What do you aspire to in life? What does a life well lived look like? How do you define success? To be sure, each person answers these questions in their own unique ways, but the “American Dream” offers some common ideas about how we might respond.

For decades, the good life has been portrayed as having a home on a quiet street in a safe neighborhood with two cars; a healthy family with children who hope to do better than their parents; a job with upward mobility, stability, and a paycheck that can meet the family’s needs. The recently opened “American Dream” mall in Secaucus would have us believe that the good life is all about entertainment, food, and shopping to your heart’s content.

But what about Jesus? How does Jesus define the good life? Where does our Lord want us to be setting our sights? As we begin the season of Lent, we invite you to join Jesus and his followers on a hillside in Galilee and listen in on his description of what it means to be blessed. I have a feeling most of us will have A New Identity to aspire to!