Lord's Day Reflection: Fruits, Roots, and Lenten Boots - Walking the Talk

By Jenny Kraska

This week, as we approach the holy season of Lent, beginning with Ash Wednesday, the words of Jesus in Luke’s Gospel provide us with a timely and profound reflection. Jesus begins by sharing a parable with His disciples, He speaks of the blind leading the blind, the importance of removing the plank from our own eye before addressing the speck in our brother’s eye, and the truth that a tree is known by its fruits. These teachings invite us into the spirit of Lent: a season of repentance, self-examination, and conversion.

Lent calls us to humility, urging us to recognize our own need for healing and renewal before we seek to correct others. The ashes we receive on Ash Wednesday are a stark reminder of our mortality and sinfulness, but they are also an invitation to transformation through God’s grace. True conversion is not merely an external practice but an interior renewal of the heart. The ashes on our foreheads will wash away, but the inner transformation they signify should endure. In the words of Pope Francis, "The joy of the gospel is such that it cannot be taken away from us by anyone or anything" (Evangelii Gaudium 84). May this Lent be a time when that joy takes deeper root in our hearts, preparing us to celebrate Easter with renewed faith and authentic witness.

In Evangelii Gaudium, Pope Francis challenges us to embrace this renewal with joy and authenticity. He reminds us that evangelization begins with a personal encounter with Christ that changes our lives and makes us credible witnesses of the Gospel. He warns against spiritual worldliness and complacency, calling us instead to be missionary disciples who live out our faith with sincerity and love. This echoes Jesus’ words about bearing good fruit—our lives must be a testimony to God’s mercy and truth.

Lent, then, is a time to examine what kind of fruit we are producing. Are we truly bearing witness to Christ, or are we caught in hypocrisy, focusing on the faults of others while ignoring our own need for conversion? Evangelii Gaudium encourages us to move beyond a faith of mere obligation and routine, into a faith that is alive and joyfully shared. Our acts of prayer, fasting, and almsgiving this Lenten season should not be mechanical but transformative, shaping us into more authentic disciples of Christ.

As we journey through these forty days, may we continually return to Christ's teachings in this week’s Gospel, allowing them to challenge us, transform us, and ultimately lead us to become disciples whose words and actions flow from hearts abundantly filled with God's love. Let us ask God for the grace to see ourselves as He sees us, to remove the obstacles that keep us from Him, and to bear fruit that reflects His love. May our Lenten journey lead us to a deeper conversion, so that when we celebrate the Resurrection at Easter, we may do so with hearts renewed and spirits aflame with the joy of the Gospel.

Jenny Kraska is the Executive Director of the Maryland Catholic Conference