By Fr. Glenn Jones:

“An unexamined life is not worth living.”

Probably this is one of the best-known sayings attributed to Socrates and recounted in Plato’s “Apology”, relating Socrates’ defense against the capital charge of impiety to the Greek gods and corrupting youth. Yet it remains a phrase as relevant now as it was over 2,000 years ago. Socrates was explaining why he could not abandon his philosophical inquiries, even when threatened with death.

Now, as most of us Christians have entered into the Lenten season, that phrase becomes rather a description of our self-reflection, and yet also sound advice to those who have not come to believe even the secular realm, because what the Christian faith lauds and promotes are virtues such as, “… compassion, kindness, lowliness, meekness, and patience, forbearing one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other…” (Colossians 3:12-13) Or we can just remember Jesus’ Golden Rule of treating others as we ourselves would wish to be treated, “… loving our neighbor as ourselves.”

During Lent, we are called to look beyond the surface of fasting and penance to the heart of what this season is all about: a return to God with sincerity and humility, charity and love.

Sincerity, of course, is key to that self-reflection. We might be able to deceive others, but we cannot really deceive ourselves … and we certainly cannot deceive God, who knows our very thoughts.

We might consider a passage from the prophet Isaiah (Isaiah 58:1-9). Isaiah delivers a powerful message from God to His people: they’re fasting, they’re doing prescribed rituals … but God is not impressed. “Why do we fast, and you do not see it?” they protest.  God’s answer cuts to the chase: Your fasting is empty if it’s just for show … if it doesn’t change how you live. It’s not just bowing your head or wearing sackcloth, it’s doing what is right: remedying injustice, feeding the hungry, sheltering the homeless. Caring for your fellow men and women.

In that passage, God is speaking to us in the here and now as well. Lent isn’t so much about how well we stick to relatively trivial giving up of wine or coffee or other; it’s about how we allow God’s grace to care for one another more deeply.

So, remembering this correction to the people of God, we ask ourselves: Is my own Lenten sacrifice opening my heart to those in need, or am I just going through the motions? Checking off some boxes?

Psalm 51 gives us and apt prayer: “A heart contrite and humbled, O God, you will not spurn.” King David wrote this after his adultery with Bathsheba, pleading for mercy. He knew God doesn’t want burnt offerings for offerings own sake (“Do I drink the blood of goats or eat the flesh of bulls?!” (Psalm 50:13)); rather, He wants us to have a broken, honest heart, repentant at having done that which is wrong. And Lent is for that breaking open of the heart … to admit where we’ve fallen short, and seek to be reconciled with both God and Man.

So, do we open our hearts? Are we bringing to God our real selves during Lent—our struggles, our weaknesses. Our failures. Or … are we hiding behind a mask—a façade—of perfection?

The other day we read at the Catholic Mass of John the Baptist’s disciples asking Jesus: “Why don’t your disciples fast like we do?” Jesus responded: “Can the wedding guests mourn while the bridegroom is with them?” (Matthew 9:14-15) While Jesus is with them, it was a time of joy and hope. But then Jesus adds the flip side: “The days will come when the bridegroom is taken away—then they will fast.”

So fasting has a purpose. For Christians in Lent, it’s not about proving something, but rather about preparing our hearts for Jesus, who will be taken from us on Good Friday, only to return in glory at Easter. Our fasting, our prayer, our almsgiving—they’re all about longing for Him, drawing closer to Him. And yet, even the non-believer comes closer to virtue via self-denial from animalistic selfishness … caring for those around him/her … seeking the good for all. Loving neighbor.

Isaiah in the passage cited above helps us to remember that Lent is about action—loving God by loving our neighbor. And the psalm above reminds us it starts with a humble heart, open to God’s mercy. Finally, Jesus shows us that what we do is about Him—our Bridegroom—who calls the Christian to this season of preparation.

So maybe this Lent, rather of just giving something up, we can add something: a kind word, a helping hand, a moment of prayer for someone who’s hurting … not to fast just from food, but from selfishness. To pray not just with words, but with contrite hearts. And to give not just from our wallets, but from our lives. Because in the end, Lent isn’t about what we do, it’s about who we become: for we Christians, it is to be those disciples ready to meet our risen Lord.

Editor’s note: Rev. Glenn Jones is the Vicar General of the Archdiocese of Santa Fe and former pastor of Immaculate Heart of Mary Catholic Church in Los Alamos.