Lent.  Most of us dread it.  Many of us enter into the liturgical season with some apprehension and discouragement because of the focus on penance, fasting, ashes, sacrifices, and mortification.  It seems as if the road to self-denial will never end: 6 weeks of suffering, of self-abnegation?  The Resurrection – our resurrection – seems to be so far in the distance that we often lose sight of why we enter into the desert with Jesus.  It seems too long and desolate to be of any real merit.  

But Lent can and should be a time of eternal preparation.  Instead of making it a temporary season of “giving up” something, why not instead make a concerted effort to make permanent changes in your life, maybe something even deeply transformative?  If we are intentional, Lent will not only be a time in which we examine our interior disposition with more honesty and a sense of repentance, but it will also be more fine tuning and less extreme pruning.  

Here are some ways we can reflect on the permanent lessons that Lent can teach us:

March 1, Ash Wed – “A clean heart create in me, O God, and a steadfast spirit renew within me.” –Ps. 51:10

This Psalm nearly always reminds us of Lent.  It’s heartfelt penitence at its best, because it is a prayer offered from the depths of humility.  If we are ready and willing to begin the season of Lent with the virtue of humility, we will discover the myriad blessings God intends to pour into our lives, one of which is renewal and healing.  

Reconciliation, both as sacrament and ongoing conversation with God, is an important and necessary aspect of our conversion.  Lent reminds us that we are sinners, but God awaits us through sacramental graces.  He is longing to restore our weary souls, our sinful states, and our horrible habits.  Come to Him, approach Him without reservation by committing to Confession regularly, starting this Lent.

March 2 – “I have set before you life and death, the blessing and the curse.  Choose life, then, that you and your descendants may live.”  -Dt. 30:19

In a world saturated and obsessed with death, we can choose life.  The message of choosing life is essential to our faith as Catholics, but even more than a pro-life message, it means we live a meaningful life, one that is given daily to God’s service and out of love for Him.  Truly living, rather than merely existing, is what it means for us to choose life.  We were not created to shuffle through life without embracing all of the wonder and beauty God intends for us to enjoy and share.  Choosing life means we choose to live with purpose and passion.

March 3 – “This, rather, is the fasting that I wish: releasing those bound  unjustly, untying the thongs of the yoke; setting free the oppressed, breaking every yoke; sharing your bread with the hungry, sheltering the oppressed and the homeless; clothing the naked when you see them, and not turning your back on your own.” –Is. 58:6-7

Lent is a time for us to refocus and reevaluate how well we live out the works of mercy.  Most of us are too busy or consumed with work, trekking kids back and forth to various activities, or keeping up a household to add something “extra” to our plates, such as visiting the sick or feeding the homeless.  But works of mercy aren’t just those token gestures we attempt once or twice per year in order to assuage a guilty conscience.  They are the ways in which we live out our call to give of ourselves, especially our time and talents.  Giving of ourselves, when done in a spirit of true Christian charity, never feels forced.  It’s always a natural extension of how we learn to grow in love for others – by sacrificing more of what we’d rather be doing or having for ourselves.

March 4 – “Jesus said to them in reply, ‘Those who are healthy do not need a physician, but the sick do.  I have not come to call the righteous to repentance but sinners.’”  -Lk. 5:31

We are all sick – soul sick.  No one is exempt from the sickness of sin, but we’d like to think we are better than others.  That smug superiority creeps in once in a while when we encounter people who might not be as educated, ambitious, wealthy, funny, or approachable as we are.  Status is how the world reads and categorizes people, isn’t it?  But consider the condition of our souls.  No one can say that s/he is without sin, though most of us are good at hiding it.  If we approach the Lord as our Divine Physician, we will never forget how much we need Him for spiritual and emotional healing even more than physical restoration.  

March 5 – “For if, by the transgression of the one, death came to reign through that one, how much more will those who receive the abundance of grace and of the gift of justification come to reign in life through the one Jesus Christ.”  -Rm. 5:17

Enter into your Lenten experience with the attitude of “abundance of grace” and “the gift of justification.”  These are uplifting and encouraging phrases from today’s reading.  Instead of muddling through Lent just to get through the drudgery of it all, remind yourself that it is a season of scarcity so that the abundance to follow will be all the more valuable, appreciated, and fulfilling.  When we fast for a day, the next day’s first meal tastes all the more satiating, doesn’t it?  When we refrain from a particular habit or behavior for a time, indulging once in a while makes us more grateful for the little blessings God gives us each day.  Focus on abundance, not your lack.  

March 6– “Let the words of my mouth and the thought of my heart find favor before you, O Lord, my rock and my redeemer.”  -Ps. 19:14

We are all too often Pharisaical about life: we proudly display ashes on our foreheads once per year but pass by others with sinful, judgmental thoughts of their inferiority to us.  We perform external acts of giving up meat or donating money to the poor, but we are spiritually impoverished and longing for inner peace in our marriages and families.  What if a clean heart extended to purity of intention?  When we are pure in heart, our minds and speech are filled with goodness.  There is a sense of innocence that returns to us when our hearts are free from complicated criticisms and comparisons of others.  Lent can remind us to return to God, starting with our interior lives, so that what is changing on the inside may be displayed on the outside and please Him.

March 7 – “The Lord is close to the brokenhearted; and those who are crushed in spirit he saves.” –Ps. 34:18

All of us know what it is like to experience betrayal and a broken heart.  Part of our condition of brokenness is what leads us straight into the arms of our loving and merciful Father.  Yet, too often, we stay away from Him out of shame or fear of bringing our brokenness to Him.  Perhaps we carry longstanding guilt from something that happened to us decades ago.  Maybe a broken relationship beyond repair is hovering over our souls somehow.  The guilt and shame that remains unspoken and unhealed eventually erodes our ability to love.  We hide in darkness, but Lent reminds us to seek the light – the Light of the World.  We can do this in our daily prayers, by reflecting with a liturgical companion, seeking counsel from our pastor or spiritual director, attending daily Mass an extra day per week, and especially by committing ourselves to frequenting the Confessional.  Let’s begin today.

March 8 – “There is something greater than Solomon here.”  -Lk. 11:31

What is greater than the man who prayed for wisdom and was granted it, because the prayer pleased God?  God promised Solomon anything he asked for, including all the riches in the world.  But Solomon knew that the spiritual gift of wisdom far surpassed any temporal or material possession he could want.  What if we, too, prayed for the higher spiritual gifts instead of more money, more time, more whatever?  Perhaps that something greater would actually become our beacon and strength in tough times when we are faced with a heavier cross or are tried and tested through the refiner’s fire.  Nothing will prepare us better for our own journey to Calvary than to carry within us the spiritual gifts of knowledge, wisdom, understanding, etc.  This Lent, pray to be infused with God’s gifts, and He will not disappoint you.