Instead of asking what we're giving up for Lent, let us ask what our Lenten sacrifice is.  Fr. Mike offers examples for different stages of life of what these sacrifices look like, including his own experience of an emergency phone call before a relaxing oil painting session. How will you make today holy?

Go into the darkness of your doubt and find The Light of the world. Jesus calls each of us to himself, like Nicodemus, Joseph of Arimathea and Matthew in the Caravaggio work titled The Calling of Saint Matthew. 

Why do we go to Mass? Jesus quenches our thirst, and sustains us more than any other type of sustenance we might try to fill our lives with. 

Just like the Israelites were reluctant to leave Egypt at first, we're reluctant to leave behind the lies and baggage of our past experiences that keep us from a fuller relationship with God. We must pray for hope, a true gift from God. 

Fr. Mike explains the significance of Raphael's work of art, titled Transfiguration. Jesus invites us up the mountain, where we can gain perspective, but we must also invite Him down to our lives on earth. 

How can we use earthly resources like art, technology and the living Word of God to transfigure our lives? When we connect our human nature with the divinity of Jesus, we're prepared to go up the mountain with Him and take up our own crosses. 

It’s good to get uncomfortable and unfamiliar at times. When we go into the desert with Jesus and find solitude, He will speak to us in the silence of our hearts. 

How do we view sin? Let’s look through the eyes of little Grandpa, the subject of another beautiful story from Fr. Mike.

We fill our lives with things of this world, but during Lent we make space for Christ by giving something up. This Lent, we can start doing something, stop doing something and pray something. 

Are you ready to GO beyond the ashes? Fr. Richard shares how we can go beyond a Lent that is predictable and routine.