Bilbo, as you might recall, had Took blood mixed with his father’s Baggins’ blood. He looked and behaved like his father; “solid and comfortable”, but he “got something a bit queer in his make-up” from his mother’s side. The Tooks were not as respectable as the Baggins Hobbits because they tended to have an adventurous, mysterious side. They would discreetly disappear, while other family members were hushed about such carrying on as they went about their daily routines. It wasn’t until Bilbo was grown up, “about fifty years old,” that the Took blood had a “chance to come out.” This came when Bilbo had apparently “Settled down immovably.”

Like Bilbo we have a mixed side. There is our soul and the fact that we are made in the image and likeness of our Father; “solid, reasonable,” and free. We also have another side, our human side that is prone to “something a bit queer in our makeup”. We call this our concupiscence side. We inherited it from Adam and Eve and the Original Sin. Often our adventurous and mysterious side, or wild side, is dark and hideous. We often choose to put our trust in flesh, things, feelings, and the like, secret adventures and keeping things hushed.

In Jeremiah 17:5-10 the Lord tells us that we will be cursed for putting our trust in human beings and seeking our strength in flesh. Why? Because when we put our trust in anything or anyone other than God, our hearts are turned away from Him. He goes on to say that man is blessed if he trusts in the Lord and hopes in Him. When we put our trust in flesh, we tend to settle down, developing bad habits that allow sins to become our masters and for many of us, we become immovable in our sinful habits.

Lent has been a time for us to do some introspective examining. It has been a time to commit ourselves to route the vice and replace it with virtues and good habits. How serious have you been in your efforts? The biggest challenge lies ahead at Easter. How many of you can’t wait to pick up the good ole vice, our best buddy, and dump the virtue work? If you find that you can’t wait until Lent is over so that you can take up again what you sacrificed, then you need some more introspective time around these questions: How attached am I to my bad habits, vices? Am I willing to embrace virtues and the work they take even after Lent, or will I be satisfied with getting back to the normal?

Easter is coming. Not a habit or hobbit, but an event, an encounter with Jesus who is raised from the dead. Our true adventure is not to go back to our habits and vices, holding on to them and settling “down immovably” as Bilbo did.

Lent provides us a “chance to come out” of our “respectable” comfortable Hobbit like life and truly continue through the remaining weeks of Lent and on through Easter into the adventure of living a virtuous life as a true disciple of Jesus. This might seem to some as “something a bit queer” in our make-up, but this is what Jesus calls us to: “If you desire to follow me, deny yourself, pick up your cross, and follow me daily.”

For Reflection:

Jesus was walking with His disciples and asked them a question: Who do people say that I am? They gave the standard answers, but He responded and asked them: Who do you say that I am? This would be a good question for us to ask in these remaining days of Lent: Who do I say that Jesus is? What have I been doing and how serious have I been in rooting out bad habits, vices, and replacing them with virtues? Do I expect to encounter the risen Jesus at Easter? What difference can this encounter make in my life?

Prayer:

Jesus, help me to see myself the way that You see me. Holy Spirit help me to know myself the way that You know me. Father, help me to love myself the way you love me. Help me O Triune God to live the virtuous life You created me for.

(blogged April 1, 2025)
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