Use Lent to Spend Time with God

My wife and I are opposite in many ways. Some differences are larger such as our hobbies while others are just normal day to day things like when we wake up in the morning. I wake up early while my wife sleeps a little later. I will wake up, make coffee and say my morning prayers. My wife wakes up later and does not drink coffee. She will start her day with prayers, while I may be checking on things around the house or catching up on the news. God does bring us together though. As the morning slowly slips into the work of the day, our lives will come together. We will start the activities we planned on previous days. This could be a trip to the store, some special cleaning project around the house or babysitting some our grandchildren while their parents work. It does not always involve work though. Many days will include a movie we both want to watch. It could be listening to an audio book over a few days or weeks. The whole point is that we always come together. Though we have our own habits, wants and needs, we make sure we have time to spend with each other. It is where we learn more about each other and ourselves. It is where we let go of past hurts and ask for forgiveness of our transgressions. This time together is where we grow closer.

We should also have this type of relationship with God. The responsibilities of our family, our occupation and to our self will always be part of our lives. Our relationship with God should be our first responsibility. We should always have a time to sit with God. It is through this relationship that all other relationships are governed. This same relationship we should have with God is brought forth to the elect in the RCIA through the scrutinies. The elect will receive the second scrutiny today, the Fourth Sunday of Lent. Part of the exorcism prayer that is said over the elect asks that the Father free them from false values that surround and blind them. We need a relationship with God to understand his desires for us. Without a relationship with God we will have false values that separate us from God. These false values will blind us to the true journey God wants us to take.

The prayer of exorcism in the three scrutinies ask that the elect be freed from the influence of the devil. It asks for strength of the elect, so they may continue their spiritual journey. The scrutinies help the elect to open their hearts to receive the gifts of the Holy Spirit. During this purification and enlighten phase of RCIA the elect spend time with God. They have been taught that to have a relationship with God means they must devote time to Him.

All relationships in our lives are important. Think of how you build and maintain those relationships. If a relationship feels strained, weak or non-existent then you devote time to strengthen that relationship. Our relationship with God should be the same. When we feel earthly desires pulling us away from God, we know that our relationship with God is strained. This is the very time we need to scrutinize our life. It is the time to come together with God through our prayer life. It is what is required of the elect and it should be what you require of yourself.

The Scrutinies of the Elect

Those who have never been baptized before are called members of “the elect.” As with all who are baptized, these elect will “die to their old self” and rise as children of God.  They will begin what is hoped a new way of living.  Those in our Rite of Christian Initiation for Adults are now in what we call the Purification and Enlightenment phase.  This phase includes three scrutinies.  A scrutiny can be described as an assessment of oneself.  This helps the Elect uncover and heal those things that are sinful and those things which make them susceptible to evil.  The scrutinies also bring out and strengthen all that is upright and good in the elect.

On the Third Sunday of Lent the elect in the RCIA will hear the prayers of the First Scrutiny.  Part of the prayer that is said for the elect is as follows:

…that they will reject the sins and weaknesses that weigh them down. Protect them from vain reliance on self and defend them from the power of evil.  Free them from the spirit of deceit, so that admitting the wrong they have done, they may attain purity of heart…

Though a beautiful prayer, it requires an honest assessment of oneself.  We can join the Elect during this Lenten Season by assessing our own life.  This is a good time to remember that the successes we have in our lives are not just of our own making, but are brought forth through the gifts and talents God has given us.  We must also protect ourselves from denial.  We must not deceive ourselves into thinking we have done no wrong.

On Easter Sunday we will renew our baptismal promises.  We will be asked if we renounce sin, renounce the lure of evil and renounce Satan, the author and prince of sin.  By letting go of that which spiritually weakens us and strengthening that which is good in us, we can make our answer of “I do” a loud proclamation of the life we live.