The Second Sunday of Lent
It’s the second Sunday of Lent! How’s it going?
I was looking forward to the season this year. While I was raised Catholic, I wasn’t always the most devout of practitioners and strayed from the faith for a pretty good portion of my adult life. A few years ago, I came back and found that the deeper you delve into our religion, the more beautiful it becomes. Fast forward to this year and I was SO excited to find the most beauty I could by hitting the Lent disciplines HARD. I was going to do EVERYTHING; give up the hardest thing I could, implement the most aggressive prayer regimen I could, and do the mostest, bestest alms giving I could! I was psyched!!
Then…suddenly…Ash Wednesday was a few days away and I had NO idea what I was going to do for ANY of it. I was disheartened because I felt like I was letting myself down and, by extension, letting God down. As I said, I’m still new to the whole being devout thing and while I’m learning a TON every day, I still have a way to go. That does not work well with my personality. I like being good at things…and I’m used to being pretty good at most everything I try to do. I’m not comfortable with my inability to figure all of this Catholic stuff out in a day…a week at worst!!
Sounds humble and Lenty, right?
Well…God has a funny way of giving you exactly what you need at exactly the right moment (as long as you are open to receiving it from him). And He’s not looking to be impressed with your progress or be wowed by what you can shoulder. He wants you to get to know Him, to draw closer to Him. Sure, the season teaches that we must pick up our cross and follow Christ in our lives, but God also offers to help us carry this burden. Most of all, this is not a skills competition. It’s an opportunity to die to yourself…as in give yourself to God.
And, for me, I don’t need to be the most Catholic Catholic to ever Catholic. I need to be humble and learn to listen for God’s voice.
In the end, I didn’t come up with my Lenten plan. My son did. And my wife showed me the way. I came home from a weekend-long work trip with a growing concern that I wasn’t going to be ready come Ash Wednesday. It was then that my wife told me that my 7-year-old son volunteered to give up all sweets for Lent. And she said she was going to do that too. Through my family, God helped me to see a new chapter unfolding.
“I guess I’ll do that too,” I said, making it official: this was the first year we have given something up for Lent as a family.
I’m only realizing what God was placing before me as I write this (putting things down on paper can have that effect). I was humbled by a child and I am so grateful for the lessons. I still added in a bunch of other stuff that I felt would help me in my faith journey, but they were smaller. I didn’t feel I had to give up the world. All I had to do was think about my son in those moments of temptation. That gets me to think about my God and all he has done for me.
I think I’m Lenting pretty good this year.