Today is Ash Wednesday, the beginning of the Lenten Season. Following Christ is certainly a hard journey, and that is what this season of lent is all about. It is to help us learn to sacrifice, as Christ sacrificed for us. It is not just sacrifice to inconvenience us, but rather to help us grow in faith and love. Sacrifice is necessary in the Christian journey, and I would even argue that it is something that makes us better people, better sons and daughters, better husbands and wives, and better friends and neighbors. This season of prayer, fasting, and almsgiving can be very powerful, but only if we allow it to change us.
Let us all praise and thank God for this season of Lent and the graces that can come about from learning to sacrifice for His glory. May this Lenten journey be a time to growth for each and every one of us.