A child prayed: “Dear God, we need a holiday between Christmas and Easter. There’s nothing good in there now!” Actually, there’s something deeply good in there: the season of Lent. Starting on Ash Wednesday (6), we resume our annual embrace of fasting, prayer, and almsgiving in forms as unique as the folks in the pews. Consider a parish display of Lenten challenges, from limiting consumption of television to raising funds for worthy projects.

Abraham Lincoln said it a little differently than the sage who composed our First Reading, but it’s the same idea. Lincoln said: “It is better to remain silent and thought a fool, than to speak up and remove all doubt.”

Jesus quoted a proverb: “ ‘Can a blind man guide a blind man?’ Wouldn’t they both end up in the ditch? An apprentice doesn’t lecture the master. The point is to be careful whom you follow as your teacher.

I was an inconsistent student over the years of my formal education. I excelled in some areas and struggled in others. I have come to realize that the teacher often made the difference.

We ask for forgiveness from our God, as we offer forgiveness to those in our lives.

“A teacher is not served by a student who does not surpass the teacher.”