A priest who was working in an inner city parish walked down the street one evening on his way home.
A young man came out from the alley behind him and poked a knife against his back. “Give me your money,” the young man said.
The priest opened his jacket and reached into an inner pocket to remove his wallet, exposing his clerical collar. “Oh, I’m sorry, Father,” said the young man, “I didn’t see your collar. I don’t want your money.”
Trembling from the scare, the priest removed a cigar from his shirt pocket and offered it to the young man. “Here,” he said. “Have a cigar.”
“Oh, no, I can’t do that,” the young man replied, “I gave up smoking for Lent.”
We have arrived at the season of Lent, that period of the Church’s year in which people figure we are supposed to give something up and feel miserable. At least that is the popular understanding of Lent.
The word “Lent” originally meant “springtime,” not misery. The Lenten observance has changed over the centuries. The early church celebrated Lent for only a few days before Easter.
Over time, the length of the season grew until it was several weeks long. In the seventh century, the church set the period of Lent at forty days (excluding Sundays) in order to remind people of the duration of Jesus’ temptation in the wilderness.
The thief saw Lent as a time of misery and gave up smoking. He failed to see Lent as springtime, since he was still robbing people.
How is this Lent a springtime for YOU as YOU feel new life within YOU?
My Commentary:
This story makes us smile – and then it quietly unsettles us. A would-be thief, knife in hand, is suddenly conscientious enough to honor his Lenten sacrifice. He won’t steal from a priest. He won’t smoke a cigar. Yet he is still quite willing to rob a stranger. The contradiction is almost comic, but it exposes a very human misunderstanding of Lent.
Too often, Lent is reduced to a spiritual diet plan: give up chocolate, coffee, or cigars and endure forty days of low-grade misery. We grit our teeth, mark the calendar, and wait for Easter like a finish line. But Lent was never meant to be about subtraction alone. Its very name reminds us that it is about springtime — about new growth, renewal, and conversion of heart.
The problem with the young man in the alley is not that he gave up smoking. The problem is that he stopped there. He mistook discipline for transformation. Lent asks more of us than self-denial; it asks for self-examination. Which of YOUR habits steal life from others? What patterns harden YOUR heart? What sins do YOU politely ignore while congratulating yourself for small sacrifices?
True Lenten practice does not simply ask, “What will I give up?” It asks, “What will I turn toward?” Justice instead of exploitation. Mercy instead of indifference. Integrity instead of convenience.
Springtime faith does not just drop a bad habit — it grows a new way of living. When Lent is lived that way, knives are put down, not just cigars. And Easter becomes not a relief from misery, but the natural flowering of a changed life.
YOU CAN TRY TO RUN AWAY FROM GOD, OR YOU CAN RUN TO GOD. BETTER YET, YOU CAN RUN WITH GOD!
I have just published a new book – WHAT MAKES AMERICA AMERICA.
I have 62 Chapters that look at every aspect of life in America.
Here is the link https://a.co/d/00Lyqe1C that will connect you with my Amazon order page.
Click READ SAMPLE and you can read my Introduction and the First Two Chapters of the book for FREE.
Here are the Titles of Chapters 26 to 30 in my new book:
Chapter 26: Roads and Highways Make America America
Chapter 27: Free Speech and a Free Press Make America America
Chapter 28: Silicon Valley Makes America America
Chapter 29: Medical Research Makes America America
Chapter 30: Hollywood Makes America America
