Finally, A Plan for Lent That Works!

First reading
Ecclesiasticus 17:20-28 ©

Return to the Lord and leave sin behind

To those who repent, God permits return,

  and he encourages those who were losing hope.

Return to the Lord and leave sin behind,

  plead before his face and lessen your offense.

Come back to the Most High and turn away from iniquity,

  and hold in abhorrence all that is foul.

Who will praise the Most High in Sheol,

  if the living do not do so by giving glory to him?

To the dead, as to those who do not exist, praise is unknown,

  only those with life and health can praise the Lord.

How great is the mercy of the Lord,

  his pardon on all those who turn towards him!

LENT IS COMING

This Wednesday marks the beginning of the Lenten season of the Church.  What makes it different from ordinary time is that we are asked to stop, look, and listen and to take time to see how we stack up as members of God's family and as Ambassadors of Christ.  

WHAT LENT ISN'T

I remember in my grammar school days there was a great emphasis on "giving something up for Lent."  Now, don't get me wrong, giving up something for Lent is a good practice but it paints the season with a dull grey color devoid of happiness.  Lent is not intended to be a season of sadness. Oh, we are to repent from our sins, but we should be doing that all year long and not just in these forty days that the Church sets aside where it is emphasized more strongly. Lent is not primarily a season of giving up, it is a season of receiving grace. 

A TIME OF REFRESHMENT

Lent is a time of refreshment for our souls. We are asked to really set aside some time and reflect on how the person we show others matches the person that is inside.  Are we all talk and no action?  Do we want to look good while ministering from our couch?  We want to make ourselves whole which means not divided.  Ideally, we want to make ourselves whole which is where we get the word holy.  A holy person is an undivided person, a person who knows his place before God and revels in it.  During Lent, we are asked to think about who we are and how we treat ourselves and others and to reach outside of ourselves and do just a little more.  This will make our tepid souls more alive and in doing it we will understand better the command to, "Do unto others what you would have them do unto you."

LENT IS SPRING

Above all, Lent is Spring and spring brings life.  Things that are gray and cold start to give way the first buds of new life. Days are getting longer and the chill of the night starts to abate. We see all of nature start to get up out of its sleeping posture, yawn, and stretch and begin to come back to life.  So it should be for us.  We should spend some time casting off what is cold in our souls and reach out and grab the warmth of God's grace and use it to invigorate our response to the life we see around us. 

So you see, the coming Lenten season is there to prepare us to celebrate Holy Thursday, Good Friday. and Easter.  It is there to enliven us to understand the great gift Jesus gave us on Holy Thursday, the Eucharist.  It is there to give us the strength as we ponder and accompany Jesus to the Cross of Good Friday.  Finally, when all seems lost, we celebrate the Joy of the defeat of death as Jesus rises from the grave,

Give up something for Lent, why not?  But don't let it end there. Reflect on your life and how you can change yourself to better mirror the life of Christ. Reach out and do something positive and help your brothers and sisters in some manner.  And by all means, pray and keep watch for Easter is coming just as surely as spring follows winter.