Lent Reflection: Saturday after Ash Wednesday

In today's Gospel reading, Jesus says "Those who are healthy do not need a physician, but the sick do."  An essential part of being a Christian is to realize that we are in need of healer, in need of a God.  We are not healthy people -- or at least we cannot maintain our health ourselves.  Even physical health requires proper nutrition and exercise too.  That nutrition doesn't come from within that person, but can only come from the outside.  All animals need things outside themselves to live; all plants need things outside themselves to live.

We need Jesus to keep our spiritual health up where it should be.  It's more than just going to Mass or to Service once a week to receive a shot of Jesus in the soul, it's a way of life.  Someone who exercises once a week and only once a week will not get healthy, especially if they don't eat correctly.  Likewise for the spirit.  If we do spiritual exercise only once a week we cannot expect to get healthy, especially if those other things that enter into our body though our eyes and mind don't line up with our overall goal of spiritual health.

Unfortunately, this all requires hard work.  Fortunately, God gives us grace.  It's still a matter of engaging in the struggle for spiritual health, but it is a good struggle, even when we are worlds apart from where we are and where we are called to be.  No athlete is born with perfectly molded muscles, but instead they cooperate with the genetic gifts God gives them to mold those muscles.  No Christian is born with a perfectly molded relationship with God, but instead they cooperate with the spiritual gifts God gives them to grow in this relationship.

We must strive to realize that we are in need of healing forever.  It isn't a one time conversion that we're called to, but a lifetime of conversions, a lifetime of healings.
----
Reflection Questions:
Where do I struggle in my relationship with God?
Where can my relationship with God grow?
Where do I enjoy my relationship with God?
----

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-0fPAdEmCz8&feature=player_embedded
----
Blessings,
Isaac