Every night an elderly Jewish rabbi reviews the events of the day just passed.

He identifies the sin he has committed in it.

Then, before he goes to sleep, he pledges, “I will not do this again.”

Each day he follows the identical pattern.

He reviews his day and identifies his sin.

He declares, “I shall not do this again.”

And, each night he says to himself, “But you promised that last night, and the night before.”

Each time he responds, “Yes, but this time I mean it.”

That is how many of us respond to sin in our lives.

It is much easier to get into a sinful lifestyle than it is to get out.

This coming Wednesday, we shall begin the season of Lent by abstaining from meat and by fasting.

The ashes, given and received on the forehead in the sign of the Cross, are to remind you that there is work to do to clean up any sin in your soul which distorts the image of Christ in you, the image you received through your baptism.

The beatitudes are the beginning of the Sermon on the Mount, found in chapters five, six, and seven of the Gospel of St. Matthew. Read it through sometime and think, ponder, about what it says. Then, try to live up to it. The Sermon on the Mount begins with simple words, “Blessed are the poor in spirit.”

This poverty of spirit means that no one has what it takes to live up to the teachings of Christ, by themselves. Each of us is graced by God in baptism. Your baptismal life is how you live each day in the presence of God; your spirituality. The challenge from Jesus is to make God’s gift of grace the basis for your life, a life lived in faith.

Jesus is teaching that you have to have the right attitude in life.

If you do that, even when things seem to go wrong you will be blessed with a happiness that only God can give.

The blessedness Christ brings is based on knowing you belong to God and that, no matter what, God will be standing by you.

For your preparation for Lent you might want to consider reflecting on the Beatitudes, and ask God to help you see how you are already living them more than you may think.

Then ask God to help you see how you can live them more deeply and in further ways.

May you all have a grace-filled Lent which brings out the Christ in you.