(Ash Wednesday 2026: This homily was given on
February 18, 2026 at St. Pius X Church, Westerly, R.I., by Fr. Raymond Suriani.
Read Matthew 6:1-18.)
[For the audio version of this homily, click here: Ash Wednesday 2026]
It happens in every Olympics,
including the Olympics taking place right now in Milan, Italy. There are certain athletes who win gold
medals for the very first time. However
it’s not the first time they’ve competed for a gold medal. These athletes have been in the Olympics
before—sometimes in 2 or 3 prior Olympics—but they’ve never won. What’s admirable about these first-time
winners is that they never gave up in the midst of all their previous
failures. They kept trying; they kept
coming back. In a word, they PERSEVERED! And that perseverance eventually brought them
the prize they were seeking.
I mention this today because of all the virtues you need during the season of Lent, one of the most important is that one: PERSEVERANCE.
Lent is a time for us to draw closer to the Lord via those 3 disciplines Jesus mentions in today’s gospel: prayer (including the sacrament of confession), fasting (which includes any and all acts of self-denial), and almsgiving (which signifies special acts of charity, even something as simple as visiting the sick and elderly).
Now most people start off Lent with great ideas and great intentions in these 3 areas, and for a while (at least a few days) they do exactly what they say they’re going to do.
But then, something happens. Perhaps they get distracted; perhaps their schedules change; perhaps they just forget—but in any event they don’t do on a given day what they had intended to do in terms of prayer, fasting and giving alms.
They break their Lenten discipline, and they’re tempted—severely tempted—to give it up for the rest of Lent.
And many do, although they shouldn’t! What they should do (as the old song says) is “pick themselves up, dust themselves off and start all over again.”
In other words, they should put into practice the virtue of perseverance!
Perseverance doesn’t mean that you never fall in life—those Olympic athletes I mentioned at the beginning of my homily know that quite well. Perseverance in the spiritual dimension means that you get up immediately when you do fall and begin walking again with Jesus.
This is the key, my brothers and sisters, to a successful and fruitful Lent, and it’s also the key to a successful and fruitful Christian life. In fact, persevering during Lent is a great way to train yourself to persevere in the Faith throughout your life.
As we all know, it’s very easy to fall into sinful habits throughout the year that hurt or destroy our relationship with the Lord.
Well common sense should tell us that the person who perseveres during Lent, by getting up immediately when he falls, is more likely to persevere when he falls at some other time of the year.
He’s more likely not to delay his repentance; he’s more likely to get to confession quickly when he needs to.
And he’s more likely to die in the state of “final perseverance”—which means “in the state of grace, and ready to begin the trip to heaven.”
Lord, help me to persevere. Let that be out common prayer this Lent. Try to remember to say it everyday. In fact, let’s say it together right now: Lord, help me to persevere.
May the Lord hear that prayer and grant us this grace during the next 40 days—and beyond.
