Why Your Feelings Don't Matter During Lent
Feelings don't marry during Lent. So if you're just going about your business like it's just another day and it really doesn't "feel" like Lent, don't worry about it. Of course, I'm assuming you've made some serious commitments to keep a good Lent. You did, right?
Last time, I told you what I decided to do at work to keep Lent in my work. There's other commitments I've made. What they are doesn't matter so much as the fact that I made the commitment to Our Lord. And those commitments share the common theme of prayer, fasting and charity/alms-giving.
And now that I've made those commitments, it's time for me to step up to the plate and follow-through. The follow-through is, of course, the harder part. Not that I'm taking anything away from making the commitment, but it's, of course, critical that you follow-through.
So what's this got to do with feeling or not-feeling. That bring us to the "will." You have to exercise your will when you make the commitment. It's really not important how you feel. You decide to make the commitment = act of will.
But that's only one time where you exercise your will. Following through means you exercise your will every day - maybe more than once every day, maybe even lots of times every day. Again, how you feel doesn't really matter.
Why am I going on about the importance - or lack thereof - of feeling? Because we Catholics who want to make progress in our spiritual lives sometimes get hung up on the fact that we may not be "feeling" like we're making progress. In fact, in spite of all our prayers, goig to Mass, spiritual reading and all the rest, we may feel absolutely nothing - even kind of empty at times.
It doesn't matter. What we feel doesn't matter. What matters is what we do. What matters is the act of will that it takes to make our commitments and to stick to what we committed to.
So during Lent, those commitments we make - the commitments that we make by an act of our will - are commitments we make because we want to make some spiritual progress. And Lent - a "grace-filled" season - provides us with an opportunity to grow even closer to our Lord, even faster (by His grace).
Once we make the commitment, we may feel great. But if we don't, that's OK. And every day when we follow through on our commitments, we may or may not feel good. It doesn't matter. What matters is that we follow through.
Listen, it's great if you feel really good while you're praying the Stations of the Cross. (Maybe that's one of the prayers you commit to for Lent.) But if you don't, just say the Stations anyway. I'm certainly not saying that if you feel good - or any other feeling - that it's a bad thing. And I'm not implying that somehow - if you're a real man - you shouldn't feel anything. In fact, if I had my druthers, I'd rather have the feelings that sometimes accompany prayer, fasting and acts of charity. But I've learned that it's OK if I don't. In fact, I've learned that sometimes God's the one behind us not feeling anything. In His own way, He uses this lack of feeling to draw us closer to Him.
I don't really understand this, I just know from my reading and study that it's so.
So make your commitments for Lent and follow through on them. The feelings - one way or the other - don't really matter so much.
Last time, I told you what I decided to do at work to keep Lent in my work. There's other commitments I've made. What they are doesn't matter so much as the fact that I made the commitment to Our Lord. And those commitments share the common theme of prayer, fasting and charity/alms-giving.
And now that I've made those commitments, it's time for me to step up to the plate and follow-through. The follow-through is, of course, the harder part. Not that I'm taking anything away from making the commitment, but it's, of course, critical that you follow-through.
So what's this got to do with feeling or not-feeling. That bring us to the "will." You have to exercise your will when you make the commitment. It's really not important how you feel. You decide to make the commitment = act of will.
But that's only one time where you exercise your will. Following through means you exercise your will every day - maybe more than once every day, maybe even lots of times every day. Again, how you feel doesn't really matter.
Why am I going on about the importance - or lack thereof - of feeling? Because we Catholics who want to make progress in our spiritual lives sometimes get hung up on the fact that we may not be "feeling" like we're making progress. In fact, in spite of all our prayers, goig to Mass, spiritual reading and all the rest, we may feel absolutely nothing - even kind of empty at times.
It doesn't matter. What we feel doesn't matter. What matters is what we do. What matters is the act of will that it takes to make our commitments and to stick to what we committed to.
So during Lent, those commitments we make - the commitments that we make by an act of our will - are commitments we make because we want to make some spiritual progress. And Lent - a "grace-filled" season - provides us with an opportunity to grow even closer to our Lord, even faster (by His grace).
Once we make the commitment, we may feel great. But if we don't, that's OK. And every day when we follow through on our commitments, we may or may not feel good. It doesn't matter. What matters is that we follow through.
Listen, it's great if you feel really good while you're praying the Stations of the Cross. (Maybe that's one of the prayers you commit to for Lent.) But if you don't, just say the Stations anyway. I'm certainly not saying that if you feel good - or any other feeling - that it's a bad thing. And I'm not implying that somehow - if you're a real man - you shouldn't feel anything. In fact, if I had my druthers, I'd rather have the feelings that sometimes accompany prayer, fasting and acts of charity. But I've learned that it's OK if I don't. In fact, I've learned that sometimes God's the one behind us not feeling anything. In His own way, He uses this lack of feeling to draw us closer to Him.
I don't really understand this, I just know from my reading and study that it's so.
So make your commitments for Lent and follow through on them. The feelings - one way or the other - don't really matter so much.
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