Does Your Lenten Practice Lead You to God?

Rosemary Bogdan offers perspective on the choices we make regarding Lenten resolutions.

Lent is upon us. Already. Lent always starts 40 days before Easter which is April 9 this year. Last year Easter was April 17. So Lent is starting a little earlier than last year, but not terribly so.

Maybe it’s just that it’s taking me even longer than usual to get every last Christmas decoration put away. Could be.

We remember that we are dust. We remember. We might remind ourselves that, in fact, everything is dust. Much of what concerns us today is of little eternal consequence. That extra serving of a favorite food, that household task that somehow must be finished today, that child’s unfinished chore—let’s keep it all in perspective.

What matters is whether we are following Jesus today. Are we letting love rule in our hearts or are there other deeper and unrecognized motives for our thoughts, words, and actions?

May all our Lenten resolutions lead us closer to God. If we make them too severe, we may risk abandoning them or indulging in harsh self-criticism of how we are failing. We don’t want that.

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If we give up coffee, will we just make ourselves and everyone else miserable? We must be realistic.

Why realistic? A failed Lenten resolution may not lead us closer to God. It may just give the evil one a foothold to convince us that we will never get closer to God. Let’s not give him any footholds. If you’ve started with a resolution that you can see you are not going to be able to keep, maybe change it.

Let’s make our resolutions do-able, recognizing our weaknesses and placing them before the Lord.

If we’re having trouble fitting in a regular prayer time because we have young ones who need all our attention, all the time, let’s try little bursts of prayer. Aspirations can be very helpful:

Jesus, help me.
Oh Lord, give me patience.
Mary, mother of God, be a mother to me now.

We can also call on our patron saints or the patron saints of our children: Holy Mary, come to my aid. Saint Rose of Lima, please pray for me. Saint Therese, help me to be like you.

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Or maybe we can set aside fifteen minutes of devoted prayer time. If fifteen won’t work, try five or ten. Lock yourself in the bathroom if you need to.

Or tell your children Mommy needs a time-out and send yourself to your room. They probably won’t argue about it. What mom does not need a time-out now and then?

Almsgiving can be charitable donations. But it could also be simple acts of charity like calling a friend you have not spoken with in a while. How about calling your own mother and just telling her that you love her? Or touching base with a neighbor who is lonely?

We can also give of ourselves with our smile. Instead of turning inward toward the unwritten grocery list maybe we could just write it down and thus allow ourselves the freedom to make eye contact with the other shoppers, sharing with them a smile.

We can make a point of waving to our neighbors as they drive or walk by. We can comment, “What a beautiful day, huh?” And remember to smile. It’s important to smile.

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Let’s make our resolutions do-able, recognizing our weaknesses and placing them before the Lord. #CatholicMom

If your parish offers Adoration, try to sign up for an hour. It’s easy to say that you’ll try to fit it into your schedule, but schedules are like a vacuum. They are always filled with something. If it’s on the calendar, committed, it will happen.

There is nothing like a silent hour, alone with Jesus, no interruptions. To be in the Real Presence is like nothing else on Earth. Tell him everything. He knows. He knows. And he cares deeply.

Try giving Jesus this gift. Try giving yourself this gift.

Oh, Jesus, show me what you want from me this Lent. What would please you? What would draw me closer to you?

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