A Lent Full of Possibilities

There is one other thing I want to add about Lent. I spent the last post talking a lot about sacrifice (“sacrifice” - what are donuts, after all?) and prayer, but not much about service or alms-giving which are equally pillars of this penitential season.

On Ash Wednesday, Bishop Barron wrote:

The three great practices of Lent—prayer, fasting, and almsgiving—are three things you do. This is going to sound a little bit strange, but my recommendation for this Lent is, in a certain way, to forget about your spiritual life—by which I mean forget about looking inside at how you’re progressing spiritually. Follow the Church’s recommendations and do three things: pray, fast, and give alms. And as you do, pray to draw closer to the Lord as the center of your life—and the reason you do everything.

Last night I came across an article in evangelical magazine, Relevant, called Inside India’s Brick Kilns: Meet the Catholic Sisters Serving Kids.

I will save my thoughts on the absolute witness of these women to, as the author notes, simply be with these poverty-stricken children and families. I don’t think anything I say could do that reality justice, anyway.

I raise the article for two reasons: one is that I often run across organizations doing great work and think “people really ought to support that.” This leads me to my first thought: I interpret this as an invitation to me to notice that particular thought during Lent and actually be the one to give. Even just $10. Why not? That’s almsgiving, to me. Charitable giving need not be done in huge, pre-planned chunks. Respond to the call when you hear it, even if in just a small way.

Secondly, service. Bishop Barron does not cite service as a pillar of Lent, but I am claiming it here. What is faith without works? But more importantly, as he points out, Lent can become such an inward-looking experience, a “have I become holy yet?” quest. I may forget about serving others around me. And service can be its own experience of penance and mortification and therefore an opportunity for growth. So, you may not be called to serve the poorest of India, but you may be called to visit the elderly or disabled near your office; to arrange flowers for your church’s altar; to write a letter to someone in prison; to shovel the snow off your neighbor’s driveway; to mentor and hold the hand of a child without parents. That, to me, seems like a Lent full of possibilities.

p.s. I want to hear how your Lent is going. Are you doing the Stations of the Cross every Friday? Are you fasting, and if so, how and from what? Are you dragging yourself reluctantly to confession and considering it a victory? Let me know in the comments, girlfriend!

p.p.s. My workshop on growing in self-awareness is tomorrow!