Christ, Coffee, and Cornfields

  This morning, I was thinking about one of the Gospel readings this week that talked about separating sheep from goats because of what they did for others during their life. Today's first reading discusses how our eternal destination is not determined by whether or not the good we've done outweighs the bad. It's a matter of if you turn away from evil and seek good. It's determined on if you follow Jesus with both your words and your works, or if you turn away from those things. Jesus saved us, and by His Grace the doors of Heaven are opened to us, but we make the choice of if we get to walk through the pearly gates. Luckily, the Lord basically spells out what we need to do. One of the resources He gives us are the Corporal Works of Mercy.   All of the Corporal Works of Mercy have to do with the body. Most of them are pretty straightforward, but there are unique ways to do all of them. I'll go through each of the 7 individually, and how it applies to us today:

  It's crazy that Ash Wednesday is tomorrow already! Lent is one of my favorite parts of the Liturgical Year, and I think it's because it leads to the greatest season of all...Easter!! Besides that, though, it gives us a reason to restart. It's a time dedicated to drawing near to Christ and His Passion and Death. It's a time to do our best to give ourselves back to Him, for all He has done for us. The Church sets Lent aside to work specifically on prayer , fasting , and giving alms .   I've never been good at New Year's resolutions, because in my mind a new year technically starts every day. Lent, on the other hand, is a short season with a tangible finish. We know the ending to the story. Jesus died for us, and he went on to beat death! But for now, we must wait and prepare ourselves. I've always kind of looked at Lent as a time to better myself and my relationship with Christ, rather than just moping about because I gave up warm showers or something. It&