Identification
In today’s world, we frequently are required to offer documentation that proves we are who we claim we are, where we live, how old we are. My husband calls this “proving our honor.” Name, address, and showing a driver’s license or photo ID are commonly accepted proofs. With the threat of identity theft being a very real and scary one, we are continually on guard to protect ourselves from identity theft/computer hacking. Two-step verification is a way of life these days.
Do you remember the documents you had to provide to procure a driver’s license that would be a Real ID, one that, as of May 2025, is a requirement to board a domestic flight in the US without showing a valid passport? To meet Real ID guidelines, an in-person visit to a Secretary of State facility was required, along with original documents proving your identity/lawful status, full Social Security number, two proofs of residence, and your signature. Who knew what a gold star on our driver’s license would require of us?
On the more pertinent and flip side, what steps are we willing to take to gain and maintain a Christian Real ID? What proofs are required of us? Is two-step verification involved? Is my Christian identity under attack and if so, how do I guard it? Am I a gold star-worthy Christian? These are questions I am asking myself this Lent.
The First Sunday of Lent we heard about the devil tempting Jesus, attacking Christ’s identity. Is your identity under attack from your fears, your doubts, your worries, your lifestyle? Are you secure in your Christian identity, proud to believe in Christ Jesus? How would you/do you show proof of your belief in Christ? More than a gold star on your driver’s license, the real I.D. of Christians is exhibited in words and actions, living the way and doing the things Christ modeled for us.
In this Sunday’s Gospel we will hear the account of Jesus’ transfiguration. God’s voice came from the cloud and identified Jesus as “my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased” (Matthew 17:5). Do I conduct myself in a way that God would announce the same about my identity as his beloved daughter? I am a work in progress here!
This Lent is a perfect time to fight even harder to preserve our individual identity as a Christian. Think of the war in Ukraine where a small country is fighting to preserve its national identity in defiance of a much larger opponent. Our identity equals our way of life. Fight for the life-giving identity that Jesus modeled through His sacrifice on the cross. May this Lent be a time of fortifying our personal armor and taking up new and powerful weapons, like prayer, fasting, and almsgiving, to fight sin and temptation. We cannot allow sin to steal our identity.
Jesus gave us his very own Real ID. We carry His name as Christians. Carry your Christian real ID with pride and guard against the loss of it to anyone or anything. The real ID I should always carry is marked not with a gold star, but the cross.