Keeping Work Focused on the Present During Lent with Sister Lucy's Help

In 1943 Sister Lucy of Fatima wrote something we might find helpful as we work our way through Lent. We'll get to that in a moment. First, let's assess where we're at right now with our work during Lent. 

It's important to keep our focus on the the present in our work. If, like me, you get pretty busy during a typical work day, the last thing you need is for your mind to wander. Looking back at the past, thinking about the future, wondering how things are going at home can easily distract us. When I feel such thoughts percolate, I try to pause, take a deep breath, ideally pray for the grace to attend to my duties here and now, and get back to the task at hand.

Not that looking back and looking forward is always a bad idea.

Looking back at the past and thinking of the future can be helpful on occasion when done in a disciplined manner. At fixed times during the year, I assess how our work has progressed compared to the past, sometimes going back to the beginning of our small business. In the same way, I look forward to anticipate where we might wind up in the near to intermediate term, typically a year or so out. Because we keep good records, I can easily check revenue back any length of time and compare to the present. If we're close to last year, for example, it's likely we'll wind up the year around where we did last year. For shorter time periods, we might notice a spike in either income or revenue. If we're not sure what caused this, we do a little homework. If we already know, we just take note and get back to work.

So looking back and looking forward serve as good evaluation and planning tools if done selectively. Just don't spend too much time with these at the expense of getting your work done each day!

Now that we're working our way through Lent, we may be peppering our daily tasks with some special prayer and mortification. Just as with looking back and looking forward, we need to be sure our special Lenten discipline at work doesn't unduly distract or derail us from our tasks. The work need to get done.

Not that we're minimizing the importance of our Lenten discipline. If we've got a work day with some breathing room, it helps provide some space for us to say special prayers. It allows for acts of mortification that we might forget on a super-busy day. 

These all feed our penitential disposition. And as long as they don't take away from our diligent pursuit of our obligations, it's all good. 

If you think I'm unduly minimizing our penitential Lenten efforts, Sister Lucy's words might provide some assurance. 

In 1943, Sister Lucy of Fatima wrote something along these lines: 

“All that God wishes in the way of mortification is the simple, dutiful performance of one’s everyday tasks and the acceptance of their difficulty and tedium…many people imagine that penitence means the practice of great austerities, and as they have neither the strength nor the generosity to undertake such austerities they are discouraged and fall into a life of indifference and sin. Our Lord has said to me: ‘The sacrifice that each can make is to do his duty and obey My Law: that is the form of penitence I now demand.’”

Makes a lot of sense, doesn't it? Again, it's not saying special mortification isn't good. But it shifts the emphasis to the work itself. 

Work done simply and dutifully can be difficult and tedious. There's a chunk of what I do that can easily be categorized that way. Sometimes when I see certain items pop up on my daily task list, I roll my eyes at the tedious items. And if one or two items are particularly difficult, I might even clench my teeth or look for some excuse to put them off or switch in something not so difficult.

But every once in a while, I just attend to the tedious and difficult in a simple, dutiful manner: just what Sister Lucy says God wishes us to do. Of course, when that happens I know with certainty that God has provided His grace to "override" my natural inclination. So I thank Him for that grace.

It's a small example of the stark reality that all good comes from God. Left to my own devices, I'd likely be concocting some excuse to put off the tedious and difficult - unless there's an uncompromising deadline that "forces" me to bite the bullet and get them done.

So, thanks to Sister Lucy, we've got a good boost to our Lenten discipline. All we have to do is the work we have on our "To Do" list in a simple and dutiful manner. No great austerities necessary to work in a penitential spirit. 

Good stuff, isn't it?

We adore Thee O Christ and we bless Thee. Because by Thy Holy Cross Thou hast redeemed the world.