Those who are in the flesh cannot please God. But you are not in the flesh; on the contrary, you are in the spirit, if only the Spirit of God dwells in you… Do our lives testify to the truth of what St. Paul proclaims? Those who are in the flesh cannot please God. The Spanish translation is actually more helpful in understanding what St. Paul means. “Those who live disordered and selfish lives cannot please God.” Our lives are disordered when we focus our energy on the satisfaction of our material desires to the point that we neglect the needs of others. We live selfish lives when we think that the satisfaction of our desires should take priority over the needs of other persons. We live selfish lives when we are refuse to share the gifts with which God has blessed us with those in need – whether it is the gift of our time, the gift of our talents, or the gift of our resources. In Lent, we look honestly at our lives in order to see where there is a measure of disorder, where there is a measure of selfishness. We then seek the grace of God that we need to diminish that disorder, diminish that selfishness so that our lives are more pleasing to God. All of us received the Spirit of God in baptism. The Spirit of God dwells in every one of us. When we receive the sacrament of confirmation, this gift of the Spirit is renewed within us. The challenge for us is to allow the Spirit to direct our lives. We can only do this through an active life of prayer in which we choose, with the help of God’s grace, to surrender more and more of ourselves to the power of God’s Spirit. The Spirit directs our lives when our attitudes reflect the values of the Gospel and not the values of popular pundits. The Spirit directs our lives when we recognize that all persons are brothers and sisters to us so that we have a responsibility for the well-being of all. The Spirit directs our lives when we respond with generosity to the needs of others. The Spirit dwells in all of us, but not all of us allow the Spirit to direct our lives. Lent is almost over. Pray today for the grace to dwell in the Spirit of God! Fr. Mark Hallinan, S.J