What Will You “Give Up” This Lent?

Lent is a Catholic institution. Regardless of how religious we are, when Lent comes around, we make plans to “give something up.” As a little girl my cousins and I compared notes as to what we were giving up. Pizza, soda, and TV got lots of oooos and aaahs! My parents didn’t fast from meat only on Ash Wednesday but on every Wednesday (and Friday) for the whole six weeks. Who likes fish as a kid? It wasn’t Gordon’s fish sticks. It was a whole fish staring up at you! Dare I forget the fish soup made with fish heads? An eyeball was sure to bobble up and down in my bowl.

Sacrifice, like the song Tradition on Fiddler on the Roof, was pounded into my head by the Sisters at Sts. Simon and Jude school. Sacrifice! If it didn’t hurt, it didn’t count!  Now I’m all grown up and I can do what I want. But I still keep Lent. For most of my adult life, I kept Lent for all the wrong reasons – out of good Catholic guilt. Typically I gave up all sweets – for God – ummm – no; to lose weight. On Easter morning I’d stuff marshmallow chicks and jelly beans in my mouth.

Now, I actually look forward to Lent. Lent gives me time to step back from the busyness of my life, put down my toys (computer, iPhone, and TV remote) to search my heart and see what is there. Who have I become? Where am I headed?  Am I concerned with my status in the world? Am I anxious, resentful, bitter, or unforgiving? Are my eyes fixed on Jesus? Do I desire God above all things? 

The question, “What will I give up this Lent?” lets me know the stuff I’m really attached to – perhaps too much so.  When I think, “Oh, I can’t give up that,” then I know that’s exactly it. I used to believe that the purpose of “doing penance” was my punishment for failing God. It was a way to win back God’s love or earn heaven. Now I understand that whether I fast by giving something up, add more minutes to my prayer time, or increase my charitable giving, its purpose is to draw me closer to the love of God, my father. My sacrifices allow God’s grace to work within and through me to strengthen, heal, and transform me into a whole, free, and loving person.

The dread I once felt about Lent is replaced with excitement. I don’t go alone into the desert to face my temptations. Just as the Holy Spirit led Jesus into the desert after his baptism, the Spirit accompanies me there too. I’ve always wondered why the Spirit led Jesus into the desert. It’s not as though he wasn’t living in perfect communion with the Father. After 40 days without food, the devil takes full advantage of Jesus’ weakened state and tempts him three times. Jesus is victorious! His time in the desert served to strengthen Jesus to fulfill his mission. Jesus begins to preach repentance, announce the coming reign of God, and ultimately redeems the world by suffering, dying and rising to new life.

Out of love, Jesus joins us in our desert to make the desert a holy place. The suffering we experience by rooting out all that binds us is joined to the suffering Jesus endured in the desert so that in the end we will be transformed from wounded people into free, loving, and extraordinary people. After 40 days in the desert, our fasting, prayers, and humble service strengthens us to fulfill our mission of discipleship. We have let the love of God flow through us untying the bandages that keep us distant from God.

What can we possess that will bring us more happiness and peace than we could ever imagine? We can possess a friendship with God. One of the unique truths of the Christian faith is that we can know God as a personal being and not as a force field or karma. God offers his heart, his mind, his time, his power to dwell within us.  We call this grace. Lent is a season when God pours down abundant graces. Every Lent brings a new resurrection when we are open to the new life of God Himself coming to dwell in us.

Lent is a time for new beginnings.

Journaling with Jesus

What is keeping me from being close to Jesus?  Ask Jesus for His healing touch to free you from the bondage of these wounds.

Is Jesus my life’s companion? Do I see his loving hand in the events of my life? When have I experienced spiritual comfort in the midst of my sufferings?