First Friday in Lent

Andrew son of John was a disciple of John the Baptist. One day Andrew was standing near John when Jesus walked by, and John said "There is the Lamb of God." Andrew and another disciple went after Jesus; and when Jesus saw them he turned and said "What are you looking for?" (John 1:35-38). That is the question, isn't it? What are we looking for? What do we want? What ambitions drive us, what fears do we want to avoid, what imaginations shape us, what aspirations lift us higher than we thought we were capable of? What are we looking for? The purpose of fasting and self-denial in Lent is to set aside some of the things with which we habitually satisfy our desires, so that the desires themselves can come more clearly into view, so that we know more consciously what it is that we want. Fasting and self-denial is a way to hear Jesus ask us "What are you looking for?" If we take that question seriously, we may be better able to tell if what we are looking for in life is also what God is looking for in us.