Why Lent
A few thoughts on Lent for 2014….
I need a good Lent….
Because I have an awareness of how undisciplined my life can sometimes be. I’d like to blame my distractability on my ADD, but in truth it is mostly due to the honed chaos I’ve developed in my life. I dread nothing more than being bored–a sad commentary on my generation. As a result: I tend to leave everything not quite finished; have too many magazines stacked waiting for me to pick up, read and pass along; untold numbers of ‘projects’ I plan to craft in my basement–someday; and some wonderful books on a faith that I have, by being a confirmed Catholic, an obligation to read and learn to enrich my soul that get started but never quite finished. All that aside, at any given moment, the God of the universe is ready and willing to converse with us — how can we ever be ‘bored’?
I need a good Lent…..
Not just for what the season requires; but more for what it gives–time to scale back the busyness and make some more conscious efforts at prayer and contemplation. Oh, the days I have left God after I said my prayers, had my say…all the while ignoring the privilege of have Him speak to me; through his word, Eucharistic adoration, a daily Mass and even beautiful music passed down through the ages for such a time as this.
I need a good Lent….
Because our culture is in a world of hurt and I need to recognize my role in it. Have I done enough to help the hurting? Have I kept quiet when I feared speaking would bring the same criticism that eventually brought Christ to the cross? Transversely, have I spoken harshly, when a kind word would have produced so much more fruit? The only way to know the difference is by allowing the Holy Spirit to do a work that touches my soul in a way nothing else can.
I need a good Lent….
As I face the everyday problems in my own home, in my work and with extended family and friends. I cannot be a balm for those closest to me if I have not allowed Christ to heal me through the Sacraments of the Church as often as I can — and more often than I think I need!
I need a good Lent….
For one day I will join all who came before – in eternity. And though I pray for the strength to endure until heaven is my home…I do not want to go home a stranger. Think about it. We will spend eternity with the One who loved us most. We can use this sojourn on earth and this precious season of the year to draw closer to our final destination — the one we were created to possess.
