23 Mar 2017
Living Life to the Full
Are we living our lives, or are we sleepwalking through life?
God has given us the gift of life and desires us to make the most of it. Yet how often are we just going through the motions? Or do we feel like the dried bones of the first reading? Perhaps we feel like Lazarus in the gospel, bound, blind, and buried?
Lent is Christian Spring. Just as the natural world comes to new life in Spring, so God gives us the season of Lent as a time for us to come alive in new ways.
What is it that binds us in mediocre living? What prevents us from using our talents to the full, or even from knowing all of our capabilities? What causes us to miss the mark of living a full life, free of useless habits and addictions?
In Hebrew, the word which we translate as “sin” literally means to “miss the mark”. It comes from the world of archery. Sinning is not just breaking laws; it is a failure to live life to the full. It is choosing to stay in the safe familiar tomb, rather than risking the big open world.
Today, and every day, God offers us His life giving Spirit to transform us from being half alive to being fully alive. This offer is made in a special way at Easter through the Resurrection. However, even now in Lent, God invites us to allow His Spring to take root in our lives.