Good Wednesday, friends.

Today is Ash Wednesday. Lent begins.

I'll keep this brief. You've got more important things to do than read a long email from me - like figuring out what you're actually going to do for the next forty days.

Dust and Dreams

Last week I wrote about entering Lent in the middle of building something:

There's a version of this season that could feel like contradiction. Ambition and ashes. Dreams and dust. How do you build something with your whole heart while simultaneously acknowledging that you and everything you build will return to the earth?

But I don't think it's contradiction. I think it's the only honest way to build.

If you missed it: Dust and Dreams →

This Week's 2 Minute Homily

Launching Lent — covering both Ash Wednesday and the First Sunday of Lent.

Jesus doesn't show us that we defeat Satan with superhuman strength. We defeat him with grace from on high, with Scripture and truth, with an interior life so grounded in the Father that the lies can't land.

That's what Lent is for.

Watch on YouTube →

Ideas for a Good Lent

Still deciding what to take on or give up? Here are a few thoughts:

Keep it small and real. Better a small yes you keep than a grand yes you break. One decade of the Rosary daily. Phone down at dinner. One Confession during Lent. Something you'll actually do.

Think interior, not just exterior. The Gospel today warns against performing our piety for others. "Your Father who sees what is hidden will repay you." Pick something that's between you and God.

Need more ideas? This list has 40 of them - one for each day: 40 Unique Ideas for Lent →

The Readings This Week

Ash Wednesday — USCCB Readings

"Rend your hearts, not your garments." God wants the interior, not the performance.

First Sunday of Lent — USCCB Readings

Jesus in the desert for forty days. Where Adam fell, Christ stands firm.

A Final Word

"Lent comes to reawaken us, to shake us from our lethargy. Lent is not about the ordinary things we do, but about the extraordinary things God does in us."

— Pope Benedict XVI

That's it for this week. Short and simple.

Go get your ashes. Pick your practices. Let's begin.

What's on your mind? Just hit reply - I read every response.

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