Lenten Reading

"Christ has no body on earth but yours, no hands but yours, no feet but yours. Yours are the eyes through which Christ's compassion for the world is to look out; yours are the feet with which He is to go about doing good; and yours are the hands with which He is to bless us now.

Saint Teresa of Avila

I grew up Catholic. I attended a Catholic school. I am VERY thankful for the upbringing that I had and while I am no longer a member of the Catholic denomination, I believe, no... I know that God has used it and worked through it to bring me to the place of relationship with my Savior that I am in today. One of my favorite seasons in the Liturgical year is Lent and Easter.

Lent is a time of sacrifice and preparation and while I don't want to get into all of that in this post, our family does still participate in the Lenten season each year. It is through this time of self sacrifice, prayer, repentance and giving that we can identify with on a small scale and teach our children about the eternal sacrifice of Jesus. The kids and I usually have special things planned during this time, such as a Lenten calendar, Scripture readings, collecting food for the poor, etc. and maybe I can share more about this in another post soon but today I wanted to share a book that I am reading during Lent.

The book is called The Hole in Our Gospel and although I am not very far yet, I can tell you that it has stopped me in my tracks more than once and has gotten me to really step back and look at my extravagant life and to realize how truly blessed I am. But it really goes beyond being thankful, doesn't it?

This book has been on my list of books to read/purchase but a few weeks ago I found it at a favorite thrift store for 50 cents and just in time to read during Lent.

Here are few quotes from the introduction of the book ...

"What does God expect of us? That is what this book is about. It's a simple question, really. But is the answer so simple? What is the Christian faith about? Going to church every Sunday, saying grace before meals and avoiding the most serious sins-- or does God expect more?

I am a Christian-- perhaps you are too. But what does that mean exactly? To even be Christians, we must first believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God. That in itself is no small idea. If it is true, it changes everything, because if Christ is God, then all that He said and did is deeply significant to how we live our lives. So we believe. But God expects more."

And a little further in the introduction....

" ... but He (Jesus) also spoke at length about God's expectations, our values, and how we are to live in the world. So how are we to live? What kind of relationship are we to have with a holy God? What is God asking for, really, from you and me? Much more than church attendance. More than prayer too. More than belief and even more than self-denial. God asks us for everything."

The author, Rich Stearns came face to face with these questions in a mud hut in Rakai, Uganda. This is a true story of a corporate CEO who set aside worldly success for something far more significant, and discovered the full power of the gospel of Jesus Christ to change his own life. Sounds like a perfect Lenten read to me. Check it out.