Jesus replied: "The greatest commandment is this, 'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.'
Matthew 22:37
How blessed we are that the Church in her wisdom has given
us a time every year to focus on this command!
A period of 40 days is set aside to refocus and reprioritize our life
according to this command. And not only
that, we’re given specific guidelines to help us follow this commandment
thereby uniting ourselves more deeply to Christ.
I get excited for Lent each year, but I realize I may be one
of the few. I think if more people
understood what it’s all about then more people would be excited with me! Lent is here, sure there’s suffering and
sacrifice (not what excites me!) but more importantly there’s opportunity to
change, there’s a challenge to grow, to get back on track with where I want to be and who I want to be... it's a call to better myself. This is our training season every year. It's tough, of course, but you have a great trainer who will personally help you improve your skills, endurance, and mindset if you are willing to show up and put in the time and effort. You want to be a saint? Well here’s 40 days to jump start your
journey, and if you feel you’re in the middle of your path to sainthood, well
then here’s some fuel to pour on your fire!
Now most of the time I hear “What are you giving up for
Lent?” as the first and only question among Catholics. Sacrifice or “giving up” something is only
part of what we’re asked to do in Lent.
In total there are 3 parts:
1. Fasting/Sacrifice
2. Prayer
SACRIFICE
We sacrifice during Lent in order to fulfill the part of that commandment that says “whole body” and to unite ourselves to Christ in His sufferings and ultimate sacrifice of His life for us. You can give up coke, sweets, coffee, or pizza, as most people do. This way of fasting is good because we use our will to suppress our more shallow desires and appetites in order to make room for our deeper desires to come to the surface. It’s a way to prioritize our desires. Consider giving up something that will allow your deeper desires to come to the surface. Maybe give up something that will give you more time in your day, or make your life quieter, thus allowing you to focus on deeper more important things rather than the distractions that normally distract us. Here are some ideas:
We sacrifice during Lent in order to fulfill the part of that commandment that says “whole body” and to unite ourselves to Christ in His sufferings and ultimate sacrifice of His life for us. You can give up coke, sweets, coffee, or pizza, as most people do. This way of fasting is good because we use our will to suppress our more shallow desires and appetites in order to make room for our deeper desires to come to the surface. It’s a way to prioritize our desires. Consider giving up something that will allow your deeper desires to come to the surface. Maybe give up something that will give you more time in your day, or make your life quieter, thus allowing you to focus on deeper more important things rather than the distractions that normally distract us. Here are some ideas:
Don’t listen to the radio in the car.
Listen to classical or Christian music instead of secular
music.
Don’t watch T.V. during the week.
Don’t watch T.V. 2 or 3 days a week.
Don’t shop for yourself for all of Lent (this is harder than
it sounds, but not buying those earrings, or purse, or dress is tough… but it’s
really fun to buy an Easter outfit at the end!)
Give up facebook
Only check facebook once a day
Remove the facebook app from your phone
Don't go out to eat.
Only go out to eat once a week.
Don't go out to eat.
Only go out to eat once a week.
Lent is long enough to form a habit, so what positive habit
would you like to pick up in the next 40 days?
PRAYER
This is how you grow closer to God. Prayer is communicating with God. So, find a way to increase your communication
with God. Here are some practical ideas:
Arrive 10 minutes early to Mass to help quiet your mind and
prepare for Mass
Pray the Rosary everyday
Pray a decade of the Rosary everyday
Pray the 33 day preparation for consecration to Mary http://totalconsecration.ageofmary.com/preparation-01.html
Go to Mass 1 or 2 weekdays each week
Make a holy hour, or if you already do, make an additional
holy hour each week
Get up early so you can spend 10-15 minutes in prayer or
meditation before you start your day
Examine your conscience each night before bed
Meditate on the Mass reading for each day http://usccb.org
Read books about the lives of Saints
What prayer habit would you like to pick up in the next 40 days?
ALMSGIVING
This is how we love our neighbor as ourselves. There are so many ways. I tend to place priority on those God has put
closest to me. Consider how you can
serve those in your own house, extended family, neighborhood, and community.
Give SOMETHING to every homeless person you see, you can
have snacks ready in the car to give away if you’d prefer not to give money)
Volunteer at a soup kitchen or homeless shelter
Stop by and say hello to your neighbor when you see them
instead of always ‘being in a rush’
Visit your elderly relatives
Make friends or “adopt” someone at a nursing home
Make dinner for your wife and family once a week
Do your chores BEFORE your parents have to tell you to
Have a “game night” with your kids once a week
Plan family picnics or outings for Sundays
Send care packages to people serving in the military
Write letters of appreciation to your friends and family
Call your mom, dad, brother, sister, or grandparents that
you don’t talk to frequently
Be trained as a Eucharistic Minister and bring the Eucharist
to the sick and homebound.
Invite a coworker over for dinner or out to eat.
Let your children’s teacher, the bank teller, the grocery
store cashier, or the doctor’s receptionist know when they’re doing a good
job. It's shocking how seldom they hear positive feedback!
Have a garage sell and give the profits to your local charity.
What positive way of helping others would you like to make a habit in the next 40 days?
_________________________________________________________________________________
Remember it's about the SPIRIT of the law. If you forget your sacrifice or skip your prayer time, it's not the end of the world, resolve to continue doing it, even if you fail here and there (or all the time!). A practical way to help is to write down what you decide to do, keep it in a place where you'll see it often, if you don't want to put it on your door or bathroom mirror, than how about in your wallet, the visor in your car, or as a bookmark. The more you see it the easier it will be to remember it and DO IT. Encourage yourself, play pump up music, or look up encouraging quotes or Scripture. This is training, remember, you're need encouragement!
Ash Wednesday and Fridays in Lent. Ok, here's the deal, people. The Church gives us these guidelines (to fast on Ash Wednesday and Good Friday and to abstain from meat on all Fridays in Lent). IT'S REALLY NOT THAT TOUGH. I'm sorry to tell you like it is, but, seriously, have you added up how many days the Church asks this of us? 8 DAYS TOTAL. 8 days our of 365! Surely you can make it 6 days without meat and 2 days with 1 regular meal and 2 small meals that together make the size of a regular meal. Let's remember, this is supposed to be a sacrifice, we do this on Fridays to remember what Christ sacrificed for us, which was a whole lot more than meat, or a couple of meals. What the Church gives us is the minimum, if you'd like to do more try only bread and water on Fridays, you'll make it, it won't be fun, but remember, it's not supposed to be, you're in training, you're uniting yourself to Christ, and what He did for us wasn't "fun". Meatless Fridays are a big opportunity for people to embrace the spirit of the law, or skimp by with the letter of the law. If you're looking forward to that delicious seafood dinner on Friday night you've missed the point. Save your lobster dinner for Sunday, eat peanut butter and jelly, tuna casserole, or something else that is not as good as what you eat every other day of the week.
So write down what you're doing, don't get discouraged or give up when you forget or fail, go by the spirit of the law, and lastly, celebrate Sundays! I used to be of the mindset that it was like cheating to celebrate Sundays in Lent, like you're not hardcore enough if you break your fast on Sundays. Then someone explained to me that Lent is 40 days NOT INCLUDING Sundays for a reason. The Church could've very easily went 40 days straight without breaking for Sunday, but it decide to do that. Every Sunday is a mini Easter, that's why why we don't fast on Sunday, because we're celebrating a little mini Resurrection. Like every Friday we remember Christ's death, every Sunday we remember His resurrection.
Have a garage sell and give the profits to your local charity.
What positive way of helping others would you like to make a habit in the next 40 days?
_________________________________________________________________________________
Remember it's about the SPIRIT of the law. If you forget your sacrifice or skip your prayer time, it's not the end of the world, resolve to continue doing it, even if you fail here and there (or all the time!). A practical way to help is to write down what you decide to do, keep it in a place where you'll see it often, if you don't want to put it on your door or bathroom mirror, than how about in your wallet, the visor in your car, or as a bookmark. The more you see it the easier it will be to remember it and DO IT. Encourage yourself, play pump up music, or look up encouraging quotes or Scripture. This is training, remember, you're need encouragement!
Ash Wednesday and Fridays in Lent. Ok, here's the deal, people. The Church gives us these guidelines (to fast on Ash Wednesday and Good Friday and to abstain from meat on all Fridays in Lent). IT'S REALLY NOT THAT TOUGH. I'm sorry to tell you like it is, but, seriously, have you added up how many days the Church asks this of us? 8 DAYS TOTAL. 8 days our of 365! Surely you can make it 6 days without meat and 2 days with 1 regular meal and 2 small meals that together make the size of a regular meal. Let's remember, this is supposed to be a sacrifice, we do this on Fridays to remember what Christ sacrificed for us, which was a whole lot more than meat, or a couple of meals. What the Church gives us is the minimum, if you'd like to do more try only bread and water on Fridays, you'll make it, it won't be fun, but remember, it's not supposed to be, you're in training, you're uniting yourself to Christ, and what He did for us wasn't "fun". Meatless Fridays are a big opportunity for people to embrace the spirit of the law, or skimp by with the letter of the law. If you're looking forward to that delicious seafood dinner on Friday night you've missed the point. Save your lobster dinner for Sunday, eat peanut butter and jelly, tuna casserole, or something else that is not as good as what you eat every other day of the week.
So write down what you're doing, don't get discouraged or give up when you forget or fail, go by the spirit of the law, and lastly, celebrate Sundays! I used to be of the mindset that it was like cheating to celebrate Sundays in Lent, like you're not hardcore enough if you break your fast on Sundays. Then someone explained to me that Lent is 40 days NOT INCLUDING Sundays for a reason. The Church could've very easily went 40 days straight without breaking for Sunday, but it decide to do that. Every Sunday is a mini Easter, that's why why we don't fast on Sunday, because we're celebrating a little mini Resurrection. Like every Friday we remember Christ's death, every Sunday we remember His resurrection.
Happy and holy Lent to all!
A Short Lenten Reflection by Sr. Anne Marie Walsh, S.O.L.T. Well worth the read! http://networkedblogs.com/IfPFL
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