As we roll into the final weekend of Ordinary Time … the Season of Lent is just around the corner.
Many of us will be pondering that eternal question – What to do for Lent? – while feasting on the Fat Tuesday spirit of consumption.
Funny how we count the days of our Lenten fast with great precision, but Mardi Gras can begin now and include several days of gluttony before the Ashes of Wednesday come down on our heads.
Life may be like a box of chocolates … but the upcoming Season of Lent is not supposed to be all about giving up those chocolates for 40 days.
Too often, this season of conversion, penance, fasting and prayer, is reduced to a single question: “What are you going to give up for Lent?”
And so, we proceed to give up something because “it’s bad for us” or “might help us kickstart a healthy lifestyle (and if we lose a few pounds, great!).”
If that’s why you are giving up chocolate, you’re missing the point.
The point is to abstain from those things that we choose to lean on, rather than leaning on God for our every need. Who knows, perhaps that is indeed chocolate, or television or Facebook.
Personally, I don’t give up Facebook and other forms of social media because that has become a primary method of evangelization in the world – not to mention keeping up with friends and family, which is also part of life. But if you use social media for other things, carry on with your sacrifice.
Instead, I might suggest flipping it around and being more proactive in your Lenten commitment. Maybe you should commit to an extra hour of Eucharistic Adoration every day. Or pray the Liturgy of the Hours, a daily Rosary or go to Mass every day.
By boosting our prayer lives and deepening out faith one extra hour each day, we are in effect “giving up” an hour we might have spent doing something mindless, with little value beyond a quick bite of comfort pie.
Can you do that for 40 days?
It won’t be easy and chances are, you will fail. Trust me … I’m a longtime member of the “Lenten Failure Club.” But I try. And I will try again this year.
Today’s readings are a reminder that God is in control. We need to remember that any successful Lenten fast will only be possible if we rely on God’s graces, rather than our own human strength.
With Ash Wednesday just a few days away, it is good to be reminded that it’s important for us to enter the coming 40 days not just with a spirit of sacrifice and humility, but also of wisdom and perseverance.
Blessed the man who follows not the counsel of the wicked, nor walks in the way of sinners, nor sits in the company of the insolent, but delights in the law of the LORD and meditates on his law day and night.
He is like a tree planted near running water, that yields its fruit in due season, and whose leaves never fade. Whatever he does, prospers.
Scripture teaches us the virtue of patience in our lives – especially our faith lives. Be patient until the coming of the Lord … the way a farmer is patient with the fruits growing on the trees.
Patience is something we seem to have lost as a society. In a world where controversies arise with a single Tweet, debates are carried out one paragraph at a time before it all dissolves into old news before sunset – who has time to be patient?
And yet, sometimes it takes all 40 days to recognize and experience the spiritual fruits of our Lenten labor.
Our prayer as we head into Ash Wednesday this week is that those fruits include a renewed sense of faith in everything that we do.
Faith needs to be more than just a theory or an abstract thought to be pondered on a Sunday morning, then conveniently packed away for the week.
Faith needs to be implemented in our daily lives. Soaked into our hearts, minds and souls.
Yes, we should wear our faith on our sleeves … and ashes on our forehead!
Persevere … even when you begin to wonder and second guess yourself.
“What’s the point?”
“It’s been a week (or two) and I don’t feel any different.”
“Is this thing working?”
Persevere.
Seek out the ways in which you plan to observe Lent, but do not desire a sudden bolt of lightning or some other sign that you have won God’s favor.
This Lenten season, don’t go looking for signs. And don’t just settle on giving up a box of chocolates.
Take advantage of this rich, deep and sometimes dark season of penance in order to break yourself down to your very core – the way Jesus was broken down with the cross on his shoulders.
Persevere and know that He will come again on Easter Sunday, bringing His light, joy and unlimited chocolate bunnies back into your life.
