Will your Lent take flight?

by Father Mark Goldasich

Well, we’re about 10 days into Lent and I’m wondering: How’s it going for you?

Ash Wednesday in Tonganoxie — as in other places around the archdiocese — got off to a tough start due to the blizzard conditions in the very early morning. When I went over to open the church, the parking lot was slick, but that was nothing compared to the sidewalks. “Of all the days . . .” I grumbled to myself.

Surprisingly, more people  turned up at morning Mass than I’d anticipated. And with the afternoon warmup, the church was packed for the evening Mass. Someone even compared it to a “Christmas crowd”!

It’s heartwarming to see the church so full on Ash Wednesday which isn’t even a holy day of obligation. I think we all recognize that we need to change our lives, that we can be much better people. Sadly, though, as the days of Lent progress, the crowds and our resolutions tend to regress.

Although the desire to change for the better is genuine, we often fail to appreciate how hard it is. Also, we tend to fall into an “all or nothing” mentality. The minute we fail to live up to our Lenten resolutions — even in the smallest ways — we chuck the whole season, hoping for better luck next year.

But the point of Lent is not so much perfection as improvement. One of the greatest temptations in Lent is to “give up Lent” when we experience failure or difficulties.

Whenever Lent gets tough for me, I call to mind the following story:

On June 17, 1998, an 81-year-old man by the name of Robert Kupferschmid headed to lunch with a pilot friend,  52-year-old Wesley Sickle. They were flying from Indianapolis to Muncie, Indiana, in a Cessna 172 single-engine plane. Sadly, Sickle suffered a heart attack while in flight and died at the controls.

Kupferschmid, who had no flying experience, immediately grabbed the flight stick of the plane and began to pray.

“The plane started nosing to the ground,” he said. “I got on the radio and asked for help.”

Pilot Mike Bowen was flying about 20 miles away that day, doing aerial surveys for a utility company. Hearing Kupferschmid’s plea for help, he determined that Mount Comfort had the nearest airport.

“I described to him what I do every day,” Bowen said. “He was concerned, but he never sounded frantic.”

Meanwhile, emergency crews were on the ground anticipating a crash.

Bowen flew close behind Kupferschmid’s plane, giving instructions on climbing, steering and  — the scariest part — landing.

Witnesses said the plane’s nose nudged the centerline and bounced a few times before the tail struck the ground. The craft wound up in a soggy area next to the runway, with the only damage a bent propeller.

Incredibly, Kupferschmid was uninjured. That’s because he listened carefully to instructions and followed them faithfully as if his life depended on it . . . because it did! (Story adapted from the L.A. Times archive.)

Imagine that you’re flying a plane this season of Lent. The Lord wants you to land successfully at the end of it — becoming holier, more compassionate and more forgiving. Your “instructions” are found in those familiar Lenten disciplines of prayer, fasting and almsgiving. Remember that the rescue Pilot flies behind, especially when the going gets rough, calming our fears and giving us reassurance and encouragement.

Don’t give up and crash and burn this Lenten season. Instead, listen carefully and follow completely those instructions given by our God. “Do Lent” as if your eternal life depended on it . . . because, you see, it really does!