Rebuilding the World This Lent

Most of us remember a time in the early days of the internet when we had to type “www”

at the beginning of every web address, like www.google.com. Back then, the internet had more

services to offer than just the world wide web, so we had to include “www” to tell our web

browsers the exact domain we wanted it to go. Today, since most internet traffic is on the world

wide web, we skip it. Technology fills in the blanks, and the shortcut works.

But there is no such shortcut in our relationship with God. We need our “www” The

Jewish tradition speaks of three pillars on which God established the world: Torah, Avodah, and

Gemilut Chasadim. If you want to impress people at a party, try memorizing these Hebrew

words! But the English version will suffice: Word, Worship, and Work.

Although “Torah” more precisely refers to the Mosaic Law described in the first five

books of the Bible, it can, in a more general sense, also refer to the entirety of God’s self-

revelation. For us Christians, we can think of Sacred Scripture primarily. As Dei Verbum teaches,

however, divine revelation also includes the Apostolic Tradition: “Sacred tradition and Sacred

Scripture form one sacred deposit of the word of God, committed to the Church.” 1 In its most

general sense, we can also say this pillar is about all the different ways God speaks in our lives,

such as opportunities to learn our faith and holy friendships. 2

That encounter with the divine then elicits a response. 3 When we truly hear His word, it

moves us toward a relationship with Him. That relationship expresses itself in Worship. This

worship is most perfectly expressed at holy Mass. The Catechism calls the Christian liturgy a

dual response of faith and love. 4 Worship, however, can also refer to personal prayer, which is a

1 DV no. 10.

2 “Behold, how good and pleasant it is when brothers dwell in unity!” (Ps 133:1).

3 “The proclamation does not stop with a teaching; it elicits the response of faith as consent and

commitment, directed at the covenant between God and his people” (CCC 1102). Of course, “covenant”

means “relationship” here.

4 CCC 1083.

spontaneous expression of our love of God.

Finally, love requires concrete action. When we love God, we love what He loves. This

most especially includes the least among us. 5 In this way, love becomes Work, which refers to

acts of generosity and charity.

These three pillars, Word, Worship and Work, are so important that our Lord structures

his most important sermon, the Sermon on the Mount, in this way. In St. Matthew’s gospel, the

Sermon on the Mount runs from chapters five through seven. Chapter five is about God’s word

and Christ’s authoritative teaching on it. “You have heard it said…but I say to you.” Chapter six

is about Worship and how we relate to God. “When you pray to God, do not do it like the

hypocrites do.” And chapter seven is about Work, how we relate to the world. “Take the plank

out of your own eye,” “do to others what you would have them to do you,” etc. By ordering the

Sermon on the Mount in this way, our Lord was re-establishing the world on those pillars of

Word, Worship, and Work.

In our gospel passage from Ash Wednesday, which came from Matt 6, our Lord warned

us of praying like the hypocrites. So, how do the hypocrites pray? They want to be seen. They

blow trumpets, stand in prominent places, and put on appearances like they are in a play. And in

fact, the Greek word for hypocrite (which is just “hypocrite”) means a play actor, someone who

changes out masks to play a different character. Hypocrites are the kind of people who want the

applause of others for themselves, not the glory of God. In other words, they do not worship

God; they worship themselves.

For those of us who attended an Ash Wednesday Mass, we bore on our foreheads the

cross, the symbol of our salvation, made of dust and ashes. This visibly marked us as people who

desire to walk with Christ to Calvary. Lent, and indeed all of life, leads to the Cross.

5 Mt 25:40.

Many low church Protestants online called us hypocrites for showing off that we attended

holy Mass on Wednesday. I saw many Catholics rush to biblically defend Ash Wednesday…but

they were right. That is the very warning of the ashes: If this is about us, if this is about getting

our ashes to take a selfie and post it on Instagram, it is meaningless. It is dust and ashes.

“Remember that you are dust, and to dust shall you return.” By now, the mark has already

disappeared. The real question is whether our decision to walk with our Lord this Lent, and

indeed, the rest of our lives, has faded along with it.

And so, this Lent, instead of framing our discipline as the usual “fasting, prayer, and

almsgiving,” let us reimagine it this way:

Word: “In many and various ways, God spoke of old to our fathers by the prophets; but

in these last days, he has spoken to us by a Son.” 6 Even now, God wishes to speak to us and

reveal Himself to us. What is preventing us from allowing Him to speak to us? What is

preventing us from encountering His word?

Maybe it is checking our phones first thing in the morning and last thing at night, when

God desires to be our Alpha and Omega. Maybe it is procrastination on assignments, when God

wishes to tell us that His burden is light. Maybe it is the endless stream of the news, all of which

is just bad news, when Christ desires to give us the Good News. These are what we need to fast

from: whatever keeps us from hearing God speak.

Worship: “That which we have seen and heard we proclaim also to you, so that you may

have fellowship with us; and our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son Jesus Christ.” 7

St. John tells us that the Apostles’ main desire is that we have a relationship with the Lord Jesus

just as they had a relationship with him. How will we deepen our relationship with Jesus Christ?

6 Heb 1:1-2.

7 1 Jn 1:3.

Maybe we need the discipline of going to Mass every week this Lent. Maybe it is time to pick up

rosary daily. Or maybe we are doing every devotional and novena known to man, so what we

really need is quality silent time and basking in our Lord’s presence and love for us, especially in

a world that constantly screams at us.

Work: “I desire steadfast love and not sacrifice, the knowledge of God, rather than burnt

offerings.” 8 Fasting will mean nothing if we are not using it as an opportunity to stretch our

hearts to conform to Christ’s Heart. How will we grow in generosity? What concrete acts of

charity of time and treasure will stretch our hearts this Lent?

The Lord Jesus will interrupt our schedules. He will ask for our time. He will move our

hearts to notice this poor person, this distressed person, this oppressed person, especially when it

is most inconvenient for us. If we resist these opportunities to grow in generosity, we will

quickly grow frustrated with our Lord, who constantly stops for these moments.

God desires to make each and every one of us a new creation. But transformation does

not happen through shortcuts. It happens when we walk with the Lord Jesus—hearing his word,

worshipping him in truth, and loving as he loves.

Let us practice our “www” this Lent. Not as a program. Not as a performance. If it is

about us, whether for mere self-improvement or the praise of our peers, then Lent for us will be

but dust and ashes. Let us rather see Lent as a walk in, with, and to Jesus Christ himself. He is

the destination. He is the prize. May you and your families find the transformation you seek and

be blessed through this holy season of Lent.