“The LORD has done great things for us; we are filled with joy.” – Psalm 126:3
If you are like me, you have always wanted to be “The Hero”. As a child, I imagined myself as the main character in every story. I dreamed of scoring the last-second shot that lifted my team to victory. I saw myself in the movies as Superman, beating the bad guys and saving the day.
I think this desire to be “The Hero” is not unusual. Most of us long to be something more than ordinary. We also typically want to be at the center of the story. However, in the grand drama known as real life, Jesus is “The Hero”, not you or me. He is the main character. He is the One who saves the day.
We must accept this fact, humbling as it may be, if we hope to be called Christians. Yet, even though we are not “The Hero”, we are still called to be heroic. We are invited to imitate Christ and follow Him on the ultimate quest for Heaven. We have the opportunity to participate in His mission and bring the good news of salvation to the ends of the earth.
Lent is the perfect time to become more like our Hero. Here are three ways we can be heroic like Christ:
First, we must decide that we will obey and trust our Heavenly Father. Jesus was convinced of His Father’s love and determined to do the Father’s will. He never wavered on the path of obedience. Instead, He threw Himself into His Father’s loving arms with a spirit of abandonment, detachment, and utter trust in God’s love. Only that kind of deep faith can give one the courage and strength necessary to be heroic like Christ.
The second thing we can do to imitate our Lord is to deny ourselves for the sake of others. Such self-denial is at the heart of true love, which Jesus demonstrated on the Cross. Every time we sacrifice our own pleasure or comfort for the benefit of another person, we become more like our Hero. Maybe this Lent, to imitate Christ’s sacrifice, you could abstain from dining out at restaurants or buying your morning coffee and donate the money you’ll save to help feed those who are hungry.
The third way we can emulate our Hero is to be more merciful. In the Gospel story for this Sunday, the scribes and Pharisees bring to Jesus a woman who had been caught in adultery. Rather than condemn the woman, Jesus forgives her and instructs her to sin no more. We are all sinners, as our Lord made very clear to the scribes and Pharisees in this story. Since God treats us with mercy, we should also be merciful and forgive others.
If we can grow in these three practices this Lent, we will surely become more like the Hero we adore.
Merciful Father, help us to imitate your heroic love. Strengthen our faith and fill us with the courage to follow You. Amen.
