Dying to self in a spiritual sense, Bishop Kevin Kenney explained, requires the faithful to give up or move away from the things that prevent time spent with the Lord.
Bishop Kenney told “Practicing Catholic” producer Rachael McCallum in a program set to air at 9 p.m. March 28 on Relevant Radio 1330 AM, “There’s a lot of influences in our lives that pull us in many different directions, and so to die to self in a spiritual way is to make that time to say, ‘OK, no, I need to put my phone aside. I need to put it on silent or mute when I’m in prayer.’ … To die to yourself is to realize, ‘Nope, I don’t need that right now. It’ll always be there.’”
Bishop Kenney encouraged listeners to be more like Christ, not just on Good Friday, but through their entire lives. Part of this, he said, is recognizing that Jesus took time to go off and pray.
“He took time to spend with his disciples to communicate, to get to know them,” Bishop Kenney said. “(We) spend time with people, and so we need to do that and not just lock ourselves away. … (We need to) recognize that there’s sacrifices we need to make, yet that draws us closer in relationship not only to Jesus Christ but to others as well.”
Bishop Kenney offered a reminder that God meets us where we are and is not going to ask of us more than we can give.
“He’s not demanding,” Bishop Kenney said. “He’s not saying you have to be in adoration for 10 hours a day or anything crazy like that. … What the Lord is calling us to is the love of neighbor and the love of God. We recognize that there are many people different from us and many people going through struggles and challenges.”
Bishop Kenney advised putting aside judgments and seeing the people in front of us the way Jesus would see them. Doing so changes us “and that’s the conversion in our hearts that Lent is calling us to.”
Bishop Kenney said that God will speak to us, whether in person, in the Bible, in prayer or in our hearts. Bishop Kenney said that God’s voice may sound differently to different people, but it is sincere, real and challenges each person.
To hear more from Bishop Kenney about dying to self during Lent, tune into “Practicing Catholic,” which repeats at 1 p.m. March 29 and 2 p.m. March 30.
As part of the program, Archbishop Bernard Hebda talks about the importance of humility during Lent. Also, Abby Arrowsmith shares the story of how she created Twin Cities Catholic Singles, a growing community of over 250 members focused on intentional dating, fellowship and service.
Produced by Relevant Radio and the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis, “Practicing Catholic” can be heard after it has aired at archspm.org/faith-and-discipleship/practicing-catholic or choose a streaming platform at Spotify for Podcasters.
