A Sunday Thought in the Middle of Lent to Start the Week Off Right
We've entered that tough part of Lent - the middle part. Don't be surprised if your Lenten discipline starts feeling a bit heavy. But don't fret if it does. It's just the devil playing his familiar tricks. Our job consists of forging ahead while asking God for the grace to sustain both our good intentions as well as our good actions. If there's one bit of advice I could proffer here it would be that you don't need to - in fact you should not - rely on yourself here. We're not Olympian gods, and we don't need to be. We've got a loving Father who will help us if only we ask for that help. So ask.
Here's just one simple example of asking.
Let's say you're observing the traditional Lenten fast where two of your meals added together don't add up to your main meal. First of all, I hope you're not eating a gigantic main meal to allow for expanded versions of those other two meals. Believe me, I know that routine. Now, assuming your not playing games with this particular discipline, a natural progression through Lent might be that your initial enthusiastic and faithful observation starts to waver a bit. After all, this sort of discipline, sustained over these long six weeks, becomes challenging, maybe somewhat tiresome. "When will it end? What? Four more weeks? Really?" It can start to feel almost impossible to sustain.
Or maybe you start thinking that your effort was misguided. "What was I thinking? Maybe fasting worked in the past. It's different today. Long commutes, work and family demands. I need sustenance! Besides, what does all this accomplish anyway? Heck, I'm getting to daily Mass. Isn't that enough?"
All this interior chatter adds up to the usual distractions and temptations designed to lower your standards, to focus on yourself, to keep you at just enough distance from God. The devil doesn't like it when your discipline results in increased self-mastery. It just makes his job harder. He likes your old soft self a lot better.
Anyway, don't give in. Just keep plugging away. If you slip and slide a little bit, that's OK. Just ask for the actual grace you'll need to get right back to your discipline ASAP, and then, well, get back to it.
Listen, if I can do this, you can. As a matter of fact, anything I can do, I'm sure you can do better.
What's that? You don't think so? Okay, then let's turn this around. Maybe you like a challenge. Sure, a little Lenten competition. So here's one for you: Anything you can do I can do better. Not sure what I mean here? Check out Irving Berlin's great song of the same name in the Broadway show, "Annie Get Your Gun." This one's my favorite version by Bernadette Peters and Tom Wopat, who starred in the great revival some years back. This should perk you up.
Here's just one simple example of asking.
Let's say you're observing the traditional Lenten fast where two of your meals added together don't add up to your main meal. First of all, I hope you're not eating a gigantic main meal to allow for expanded versions of those other two meals. Believe me, I know that routine. Now, assuming your not playing games with this particular discipline, a natural progression through Lent might be that your initial enthusiastic and faithful observation starts to waver a bit. After all, this sort of discipline, sustained over these long six weeks, becomes challenging, maybe somewhat tiresome. "When will it end? What? Four more weeks? Really?" It can start to feel almost impossible to sustain.
Or maybe you start thinking that your effort was misguided. "What was I thinking? Maybe fasting worked in the past. It's different today. Long commutes, work and family demands. I need sustenance! Besides, what does all this accomplish anyway? Heck, I'm getting to daily Mass. Isn't that enough?"
All this interior chatter adds up to the usual distractions and temptations designed to lower your standards, to focus on yourself, to keep you at just enough distance from God. The devil doesn't like it when your discipline results in increased self-mastery. It just makes his job harder. He likes your old soft self a lot better.
Anyway, don't give in. Just keep plugging away. If you slip and slide a little bit, that's OK. Just ask for the actual grace you'll need to get right back to your discipline ASAP, and then, well, get back to it.
Listen, if I can do this, you can. As a matter of fact, anything I can do, I'm sure you can do better.
What's that? You don't think so? Okay, then let's turn this around. Maybe you like a challenge. Sure, a little Lenten competition. So here's one for you: Anything you can do I can do better. Not sure what I mean here? Check out Irving Berlin's great song of the same name in the Broadway show, "Annie Get Your Gun." This one's my favorite version by Bernadette Peters and Tom Wopat, who starred in the great revival some years back. This should perk you up.
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