Lent is too confusing to so many. Is Lent really just a waste of time?

If we don’t understand something, how can we grow? In other words, with this great season of Lent, and the opportunities provided for us to freely choose; can we change if we don’t practice what it is we say we believe? This season of Lent can be boring or considered a waste of time, archaic, if…if we refuse to fully participate and understand why we are participating. This is a time, a special time of the liturgical year in which we are invited to go with Jesus into the desert and allow ourselves to become more dependent upon God, realizing and more importantly identifying our faults with opportunities for healing and grace! How? Through active participation!

Active participation is exactly that. We actively attempt (participate) to become more like Christ, to become something more than ourselves, even with all of our shortcomings, we are all called to be more like Christ. Lent, provides us 6 weeks to spiritually renew and transform ourselves. Let me tell you something, Lent is so much more than Prayer, Fasting, and Alms Giving!

Lets begin with understanding and gaining a Deeper, Meaningful, and Continual Prayer Life

God invites us into a relationship with Him that is both personal and communal. He speaks to us through His Son, Jesus Christ, the Word-made-flesh. Prayer is our response to God who is already speaking or, better yet, revealing Himself to us. Therefore, prayer is not merely an exchange of words, but it engages the whole person in a relationship with God the Father, through the Son, and in the Holy Spirit.

St. Francis de Sales wrote in his Introduction to a Devout Life that “PRAYER opens the understanding to the brightness of Divine Light, and the will to the warmth of Heavenly Love—nothing can so effectually purify the mind from its many ignorance’s, or the will from its perverse affections…It may help you to say the Creed, Lord’s Prayer, etc., in Latin, but you should also study them diligently in your own language, so as thoroughly to gather up the meaning of these holy words, which must be used fixing your thoughts steadily on their purport, not striving to say many words so much as seeking to say a few with your whole heart. One Our Father said devoutly is worth more than many prayers hurried over.”

St. Francis also provides three acts that we could/should do humbly at the conclusion of our meditation/prayer which are:

First, an act of thanksgiving;—thanking God for the affections and resolutions with which He has inspired you, and for the Mercy and Goodness He has made known to you in the mystery you have been meditating.

Secondly, an act of oblation, by which you offer your affections and resolutions to God, in union with His Own Goodness and Mercy, and the Death and Merits of His Son.

The third act is one of petition, in which you ask God to give you a share in the Merits of His Dear Son, and a blessing on your affections and resolutions, to the end that you may be able to put them in practice.

This takes work, and requires of us to actively participate daily. Consider your personal relationships with family and friends. You and they have to work at this relationship daily; and the same is true for us with our relationship with the Lord. Can we honestly believe that we can have an active relationship with God if we are barley speaking to Him once a week? Would your relationships with your family and friends last if you’re only spending maybe 45 minutes per week? Probably not.

I’m not sure if you have ever heard of Fr. Jean-Baptiste Chautard. But in his excellent book which I HIGHLY RECOMMEND ALL TO READ, The Soul of the Apostolate, in which he states various truths with respects towards active works and the interior (meaning prayer) life. One in particular has always resonated with me after reading this book which is the 7th truth where he states “I must seriously fear that I do not have the degree of interior life that Jesus demands of me.” Think or better yet, pray on that statement. What does this mean to you? I do not have the prayer life that Jesus demands of me...wow. Beautiful and scary at the same time. How often do I pray? Not simply saying words, but praying? Think about that.

He continues with these two, yet very important notes with not having a devote and continual prayer life:

“1. If I cease to increase my thirst to live in Jesus, that thirst which gives me both the desire to please God in all things, and the fear of displeasing Him in any way whatever. But I necessarily cease to increase this thirst if I no longer make use of the means for doing so: morning mental-prayer, Mass, Sacraments, and Office, general and particular examinations of conscience, and spiritual reading; or if, while not altogether abandoning them, I draw no profit from them, through my own fault.

2. If I do not have that minimum of recollection which will allow me, during my work, to watch over my heart and keep it pure and generous enough not to silence the voice of Our Lord when He warns me of the elements of death, as soon as they show themselves, and urges me to fight them. Now I cannot possibly retain this minimum if I make no use of the means that will secure it: liturgical life, aspirations, especially in the form of supplication, spiritual communion, practice of the presence of God, and so on. Without this, my life will soon be crawling with venial sins, perhaps without my being aware of it, self-delusion will throw up the smoke screen of a seeming piety that is more speculative than practical, or of my ambition for good works, to hide this state from me, or even to conceal a condition more appalling still! And yet my blindness will be imputed to me as sin since, by failing to foster the recollection indispensable to it, I shall have fomented and encouraged its very cause.”

I really am not trying to scare you or turn you away from prayer, rather I am trying to help you understand that we all have room to grow in our prayer life, in learning who Jesus is.But for a moment, lets consider this next quote which I simply love and this quote is from St. Teresa of Avila, where she stated “Mental prayer is nothing but a friendly conversation in which the soul speaks, heart-to-heart, with the One Who we know loves us.” So why wouldn’t we try to grow this wonderful relationship with our God? Despite all my imperfections, my weakness, God only asks of me the possible, not the impossible. And, a deeper, meaningful prayer life is possible! If you're not ready for St. Francis or Fr Chautard's approach yet, begin with a conversation. It will grow from to a deeper conversation once you start to communicate with him daily.

We know that during Lent we have 40 Days of Renewal for Transformation! Here’s a couple of questions to ponder:

How can I renew and transform myself to Christ during this great season of Lent?

How often does Scripture speak of renewal and transformation?

At a minimum 48 times Scripture speaks to us about renewal and transformation. I’ve selected these four because they have helped me tremendously throughout my life since I’ve actually started practicing my faith. And, these also help to answer the first question:

Do not conform yourselves to this age but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and pleasing and perfect. Romans 12:2
That you should put away the old self of your former way of life, corrupted through deceitful desires, and be renewed in the spirit of your minds, and put on* the new self, created in God’s way in righteousness and holiness of truth. Ephesians 4:22-24
A clean heart create for me, God; renew within me a steadfast spirit. Psalm 51:12
The one who sat on the throne* said, “Behold, I make all things new.” Then he said, “Write these words down, for they are trustworthy and true. Revelation 21:5

Today, our culture makes it really difficult to hear God’s word and to do God’s will. There is a cult of the individual and this distorts the importance of our own ego, of our own feelings, wishes, rights and ambition. This cult of individualism also tends to separate us from community. The more self-reliant we think we are or should be, the less we are likely we are to listen humbly to others and learn from them.

There is also the cult of materialism and this cult literally shifts the focus from the heart to material possessions. These things which we really do not need but rather we want, stop being a means that can help us build relationships. They tend to be goals in of themselves and our relationships with others will suffer in the struggle for the security we think possessions will give us. Literally, this or that is more important than our eternal salvation. Think about that. Is that item more important than your ability to live for all eternity with God? This choice to have whatever over others and especially over God, places our hand in the fire.

So how do I transform when it appears everything is against me? Remember we need to remove from our lives things that inhibit our relationship with Christ. Not just during the 40 days of Lent but for the rest of our lives. Don’t go out trying to become or be something that you’re not. I like to reference these “items I remove from my life” as steps towards Jesus. Work on small steps, once you have the small step completed, then we take another, and then another…soon the steps become walking, walking becomes running. Each year I add something new. Sometimes I’m successful other times not so much but I continually try every year keeping the previous items out of my life and removing another item that needs to go or adding more prayer or other worthy act of charity to my life.

For a moment, consider the following 8 questions to reflect upon:

What are you finding hard or difficult in your life right now?
Listen carefully to what members of your family say is difficult for them.
When do you find it hard to be kind or merciful to others?
How could your other family members help you?
How could Jesus help you?
Discuss what it means to be “judgmental” (being very critical of someone else) What happens when we become judgmental?
What might we do to become less judgmental?
Share a time when you tried to understand why someone may have done or said something unkind. What did you learn about being less judgmental and looking at others with mercy?

So what’s the point of this entire article? It’s understanding how much Jesus loves each and everyone of us and our time to learn and LOVE him more. This is a special time of year where we are given an opportunity to not only reflect on this but more importantly given the opportunity to transform our lives and have a deeper and serious relationship with Christ.

How well do we love God and others? Do we love as Christ calls us to? In the Gospel of Matthew, Christ gives us Two Commandments: “He said to him, ‘You shall love the Lord, your God, with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the greatest and the first commandment. The second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. The whole law and the prophets depend on these two commandments’” (Mt 22:37-40).

If you’re still not sure what love is read the following. St. Paul describes it for us in his Letter to the Corinthians. Is this how you love God and others? “Love is patient, love is kind. It is not jealous, [love] is not pompous, it is not inflated, it is not rude, it does not seek its own interests, it is not quick-tempered, it does not brood over injury, it does not rejoice over wrongdoing but rejoices with the truth. It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never fails” (1 Cor 13:4-8).

I encourage everyone who reads this to spend time in prayer, spend time to really get to know who Jesus is. I mean on a very unique and special way. Similar I dare say as when you dated your spouse if you’re married; or getting to know someone via dating. Get to know Jesus the person. Fall in LOVE with him. Follow his lead and how we are supposed to live our lives and I promise you, I promise, you will not be disappointed. We have so many saints and their readings that express this.

So this Lent, Trust in Christ. Know Christ. And above all else LOVE Christ. You’ll be happier in the end.

God Bless