- Feb 5, 2002
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Figuring out what we want to know about ourselves is a pretty good way to figure out what we should be doing during Lent.
“What are you doing for Lent?”
It’s a good question. Parents often ask their children. Friends ask each other. If we haven’t been preparing ourselves during the “pre-Lent” period found in many Catholic rites, we may well be asking ourselves this right now as Ash Wednesday looms. Is it the right question, though?
It does not seem that it is the wrong question. After all, the Catholic Tradition is replete with encouragement to do things in Lent. During this season of preparation to celebrate the Redemption that was won on the Cross and made visible on the Third Day, the Church bids us to increase three essential tasks of Christian life: prayer, fasting, and almsgiving. How specifically we will approach these tasks is indeed a good question.
There are many ways to increase our prayer, give up gifts to focus on the Giver, and support the work of the Church in nourishing bodies and souls. There are many different methods of prayer, not all of which fit everyone. St. John Henry Newman liked to say that dogma has to do with truth, but devotion has to do with taste. Some forms of prayer are better at keeping or drawing our attention than others.
So, too, with fasting. Many of us could do with some strictures on our food intake, but it’s easy to take on too strict a fast when we aren’t ready, abandon it in discouragement, and stop fasting at all. We also might need to practice other kinds of fasts: from too much entertainment, social media, or perhaps even having the last word or defending ourselves. With regard to almsgiving, not only our treasure, but our time and talent can serve a multitude of good causes.
Continued below.
www.catholicworldreport.com
“What are you doing for Lent?”
It’s a good question. Parents often ask their children. Friends ask each other. If we haven’t been preparing ourselves during the “pre-Lent” period found in many Catholic rites, we may well be asking ourselves this right now as Ash Wednesday looms. Is it the right question, though?
It does not seem that it is the wrong question. After all, the Catholic Tradition is replete with encouragement to do things in Lent. During this season of preparation to celebrate the Redemption that was won on the Cross and made visible on the Third Day, the Church bids us to increase three essential tasks of Christian life: prayer, fasting, and almsgiving. How specifically we will approach these tasks is indeed a good question.
There are many ways to increase our prayer, give up gifts to focus on the Giver, and support the work of the Church in nourishing bodies and souls. There are many different methods of prayer, not all of which fit everyone. St. John Henry Newman liked to say that dogma has to do with truth, but devotion has to do with taste. Some forms of prayer are better at keeping or drawing our attention than others.
So, too, with fasting. Many of us could do with some strictures on our food intake, but it’s easy to take on too strict a fast when we aren’t ready, abandon it in discouragement, and stop fasting at all. We also might need to practice other kinds of fasts: from too much entertainment, social media, or perhaps even having the last word or defending ourselves. With regard to almsgiving, not only our treasure, but our time and talent can serve a multitude of good causes.
Continued below.
Know thyself: a Lenten education
www.catholicworldreport.com
