I just wrote a piece about Lent and the desert of modernity, the desert mothers and fathers, and finding a path to holiness in the spiritual landscape of our current era.
For me, going into Lent, my initial thoughts were bombastic and audacious. I realized, as I often do, I subconsciously judge myself by societal standards of what 'success' looks like. I had to remind myself that what is a Lenten sacrifice for me doesn't have to be the biggest or the best by the standards of the world. Be not conformed, after all.
When I quieted that restless, grasping voice and prayed about it, I realized I was being called to spend more time with God. Plain and simple. In prayer, in lectio divina, in reading the Bible and Catechism. But mostly prayer. I have a habit of exercising my intellectual muscles to the exclusion of letting myself sit in stillness and be vulnerable. So, my Lent might not look big and flashy to anyone else, but it is what I'm being called to do in this season of my life.
Mine is prayer-based this year as well. I've been feeling this call to return to absolute ground-zero foundations of faith...like, how meaningless everything we do is without a real relationship with Jesus.
Hi Claire! Ever since I graduated from college, I’ve been slightly addicted to online shopping.. Amazon being my most visited website. This Lent, I’ve decided to pray and discern each potential purchase with God, whether I want it because I think it will make me happy or if I actually need the purchase. The added benefit is saving money, but it’s meant to put my relationship with God over the things the world has promised would make me happy. It gives me an opportunity to invite God more into my life😊
I feel like you’re being unnecessarily harsh on people who give up things for lent with a secondary reason. I’m not a theologian, but in my mind, it’s like the difference between perfect and imperfect contrition. Of course, our goal is to have perfect contrition, but imperfect contrition is adequate for confession and better than nothing. I don’t understand why it would be a “pet peeve” of yours… if someone isn’t ready to give up something for lent solely for the love of God, but needs additional, (selfish), motivations, God can still work in them and help them grow closer to Him through their beginning attempts at being penitential.
Sure, he can work in and on people. He does that all the time. But I think it's better to give up something super small solely for the love of God than huge things with vain motives. It's hard to parse out; it isn't always easy to discern what you're doing for God and what you're (perhaps subconsciously) doing for yourself. I just think if you want to give up screens or sweets for 40 days for your own good, that's awesome! But you can do that anytime.
I can relate to this. My plan had been to give up scrolling at night and back off social media, and I should do those things because they are good for me and will improve my life. However, I just got a little nudge in my heart about giving up coffee instead. There would be truly no hidden "benefit" for me to do so, not to improve my health or life in any way. It would be a challenging sacrifice with "purer" intentions than the screen one. Now I'm a bit torn, but thinking about choosing to give up coffee for lent, but also work on my relationship with screens overall, not just for lent.
Thank you for this thoughtful post.
I just wrote a piece about Lent and the desert of modernity, the desert mothers and fathers, and finding a path to holiness in the spiritual landscape of our current era.
For me, going into Lent, my initial thoughts were bombastic and audacious. I realized, as I often do, I subconsciously judge myself by societal standards of what 'success' looks like. I had to remind myself that what is a Lenten sacrifice for me doesn't have to be the biggest or the best by the standards of the world. Be not conformed, after all.
When I quieted that restless, grasping voice and prayed about it, I realized I was being called to spend more time with God. Plain and simple. In prayer, in lectio divina, in reading the Bible and Catechism. But mostly prayer. I have a habit of exercising my intellectual muscles to the exclusion of letting myself sit in stillness and be vulnerable. So, my Lent might not look big and flashy to anyone else, but it is what I'm being called to do in this season of my life.
Mine is prayer-based this year as well. I've been feeling this call to return to absolute ground-zero foundations of faith...like, how meaningless everything we do is without a real relationship with Jesus.
Hi Claire! Ever since I graduated from college, I’ve been slightly addicted to online shopping.. Amazon being my most visited website. This Lent, I’ve decided to pray and discern each potential purchase with God, whether I want it because I think it will make me happy or if I actually need the purchase. The added benefit is saving money, but it’s meant to put my relationship with God over the things the world has promised would make me happy. It gives me an opportunity to invite God more into my life😊
I love this list of 40 things. I will take it to prayer.
I feel like you’re being unnecessarily harsh on people who give up things for lent with a secondary reason. I’m not a theologian, but in my mind, it’s like the difference between perfect and imperfect contrition. Of course, our goal is to have perfect contrition, but imperfect contrition is adequate for confession and better than nothing. I don’t understand why it would be a “pet peeve” of yours… if someone isn’t ready to give up something for lent solely for the love of God, but needs additional, (selfish), motivations, God can still work in them and help them grow closer to Him through their beginning attempts at being penitential.
Sure, he can work in and on people. He does that all the time. But I think it's better to give up something super small solely for the love of God than huge things with vain motives. It's hard to parse out; it isn't always easy to discern what you're doing for God and what you're (perhaps subconsciously) doing for yourself. I just think if you want to give up screens or sweets for 40 days for your own good, that's awesome! But you can do that anytime.
I can relate to this. My plan had been to give up scrolling at night and back off social media, and I should do those things because they are good for me and will improve my life. However, I just got a little nudge in my heart about giving up coffee instead. There would be truly no hidden "benefit" for me to do so, not to improve my health or life in any way. It would be a challenging sacrifice with "purer" intentions than the screen one. Now I'm a bit torn, but thinking about choosing to give up coffee for lent, but also work on my relationship with screens overall, not just for lent.