Something Positive for Lent
by Joanne Lee in Faith on Friday, April 01, 2011 6:00 AM
We are well into the season of Lent—a season of sacrifice, penitence and reflection, a season marked by fasting and abstinence.
As Catholics, we are called to fast twice during the season, on Ash Wednesday and Good Friday and to abstain from eating meat on Fridays. But most people also give up something dear to them: chocolate, sweets, cigarettes, etc. One of the more common phrases you’ll hear is “What are you giving up for Lent?” No, giving up the vegetable that you hate does not count!
Additionally, though, many of us try to do something positive: extra prayer and rosaries, giving more to the poor, reading the Bible, even just smiling more when you really don’t feel like it. My daughter, for example, listens only to inspirational music during Lent.
I like this idea of doing something positive, and now that that we are well into the season of Lent, I want to renew my resolve to add something positive to my Lenten observances, and encourage you to do the same.
Last year, my positive and productive Lenten action was to restore order to my office. By Easter, my office was much neater, but during the year I watched the open space fill in again as this, that, and the other thing found its temporary home in that room. If cleanliness is next to Godliness then this room is still a few miles away!
So what positive actions can I take this year that would be in keeping with the spirit of the Lenten season?
As I looked around me, I realized that there is a lot of suffering going on. How many times have we said, “I’ll keep you in my prayers?” Then we say a quick prayer for that person and move on, obligation done. By the middle of January I realized that I had said this numerous times already this year. Knowing that I couldn’t possibly remember all of these intentions, I starting writing them down in a prayer journal.
As I say my morning prayers, I visualize the journal page and pray for all included. I have three friends with close relatives battling cancer, two with relatives fighting kidney disease, someone struggling with serious bouts of depression, friends who are dealing with long-term unemployment and an elderly couple trying to spent their last moments together while one suffers with heart disease and the other is in the end-stages of cancer. And there there are the innumerable trials of my own immediate family.
Don’t we all know of all kinds of people who are suffering in various ways?
Prayers are powerful. Sometimes all we can do is put our troubles in God’s hands, but there other times when we ourselves could do more to help those in need as well as those who care for them. When dramatic disasters strike, we’re usually willing to send to donations or supplies for the cause. But what about a family member who is struggling with illness or the neighbor down the street who just lost a spouse? Is there some small comfort we could extend to them?
The opportunity for grace is all around us.
During this Lenten season, why not take the opportunity to reach out to someone that you know is hurting? Invite them into your home to share a meal or a cup of coffee, or maybe take a meal to their home for the family to share. Take the time to ask how they are feeling—most people suffer in silence because no one asks. Offer to run an errand or bring over some groceries.
We all know someone who could benefit from a friendly gesture. Be that person. Extend yourself, and then bask in God’s grace and blessing. You’ll face Easter with a whole new perspective.
—Joanne Lee is a mother of five and grandmother of nine. Read her online at The Nuts and Bolts of Life.
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