Happy Lent. Today all the readings are about choices. In the first reading Moses tells the people that their choices are life and death. They can choose to follow God and they will live prosperous lives, or they can turn away from God and they will die alone. These are the choices we have to deal with all the time. Every day we choose. We can choose to follow God, or we can choose to turn away from God. And the ramifications of those choices are life and death.

Last month for my reflection, and last week at Mass, the Psalm response was “If today you hear his voice, harden not your hearts.” Every day we choose to hear God, or not. His voice is always there. It’s our choice to hear the voice. It’s our choice to listen for it. It’s our choice to respond, and how we respond. Will we harden our hearts, or will we follow God?

Choosing God is not always the easy choice. It’s a sacrifice. There is temptation. It’s easy to be selfish. But we can always choose to follow God, choose to take the right path even if it’s harder. We can choose to do what’s right and just and fair, even if we think we might get more personal benefit from another choice, but “What profit is there for one to gain the whole world yet lose himself?” Our benefit is in the Lord.

For Lent this year, I’m choosing to be deliberate about prayer and dedicate time for prayer. Every day we all make choices.  We can choose to follow God. We can choose what’s right. I’m choosing to hear God’s voice and respond.