THE NEED FOR LENTEN RESOLUTIONS

The season of Lent is like a 40 day retreat. It is a time of entering into a spiritual wilderness as Jesus did when He was led into the desert. It is a time to make a serious effort to turn away from sin and to turn towards God. We make time for silence, prayer, reading Scripture, fasting and almsgiving in order to advance in holiness and perfection. Our Lenten resolutions are linked to the three traditional Lenten practices of prayer, fasting, and almsgiving. We practice little acts of self-denial and make sacrifices in order to wean ourselves from worldly attachments and fix our minds on the eternal.  It is a time to walk more closely with Jesus in His Passion.

What are the types of penance we can practice?  We ought to ask the Holy Spirit to shed light on those areas in our lives that need change. An honest self-examination can help reveal our besetting sins and weaknesses and it is these that we must set about rooting out of our lives with His help. We cannot get rid of lifelong bad habits in an instant but we can learn to gain mastery over them by exercising discipline in areas that we can control and we can do this by making realistic Lenten resolutions.

PRAYER:   SPIRITUAL STOCK TAKING

What is the first thing we do when we wake up?

If we are reaching for our mobile to check our messages then we can consider denying ourselves that pleasure. Instead consciously and prayerfully make the Sign of the Cross, thank and praise God for the gift of another day, and make an offering of the entire day to Him. How much time do we normally spend in prayer compare that to the amount of time we spend in entertaining ourselves with our friends? If we find a great discrepancy between the two this is the time to ponder on the first Commandment: I am the Lord thy God; thou shalt not have strange gods before Me. Does anything or anyone take priority before God in my life? What are our favorite pastimes? T.V. serials, movies, sports, Reality T.V. shows, news. Cut down on the amount of time you spend on these activities and spend 15 minutes praying the Rosary, pray the Way of the Cross, read a short passage from one of the Gospels, read a spiritual book. Read an article from Charisarabia and spend a few minutes reflecting on what you have read.

TECHNOLOGY: How much time do we spend each day on our smart phone or laptop which is not work related?  How much time do we spend texting? Perhaps we could refrain from sharing unnecessary messages in Lent. Or we could shut off our phone for an hour and spend that time more fruitfully.

FASTING: Fasting is an effective way to root out a besetting season or weakness. If we deny ourselves some small, legitimate pleasure during these 40 days, we will find at the end of Lent it is easier to exercise self-control in weaknesses we have found difficult to overcome. Some ways of fasting from food are by not eating between meals (unless you are sick and need to), give up chocolates, a favorite treat or dessert; this is not an end in itself but a means to an end.  It is difficult at first to stop yourself from reaching out for a chocolate or a snack, or having an extra helping of something you like, but God sees the desire of the heart and will grant the grace necessary to exercise discipline over some weakness that needs correction.

MASTERY OVER THE TONGUE   This is the biggie. If we do none of the above but focus on this one area alone we would be most pleasing to God. Are we talking all the time? Do we have an opinion on everything?

James 3:5-10   So also the tongue is a small member, yet it boasts of great exploits. How great a forest is set ablaze by a small fire! And the tongue is a fire. The tongue is placed among our members as a world of iniquity; it stains the whole body, sets on fire the cycle of nature, and is itself set on fire by hell. For every species of beast and bird, of reptile and sea creature, can be tamed and has been tamed by the human species, but no one can tame the tongue—a restless evil, full of deadly poison. With it we bless the Lord and Father, and with it we curse those who are made in the likeness of God. From the same mouth come blessing and cursing. My brothers and sisters, this ought not to be so.

Here are some sins we commit with our tongue:

·        LIES – Outright lies and white lies

·  DETRACTION revealing another person's real faults to another without a valid reason, thereby lessening the reputation of that person. Test yourself before you speak – Is it necessary? Will I tear down or build up?

·        GOSSIP Men are as guilty as women.

·       SLANDER Passing along false information. This is serious sin.

·        USING GOD'S NAME IN VAIN

·        USING FILTHY LANGUAGE

·   HABITUALLY ARGUING DISAGREEBLY. Nothing uplifting ever comes out of the mouth.

·  HABITUAL NEGATIVITY – Complaining about everything all the time.

Let us make an honest examination with the help of the Holy Spirit to see whether or not we have been just in our words with the people who touch our lives; our colleagues at work, the stranger who for a brief moment touches our life, the stranger is the one to whom we ought to be most kind and gentle for Scripture reminds us in Heb 13:2 Do not forget to show hospitality to strangers, for by so doing some people have shown hospitality to angels without knowing it. If we are habitually and needlessly harsh, critical, unkind, and rude, in our words to people, and we make excuses and justify ourselves for being so, then there is an urgent need for correction. Let us check our tongue, check the rude words, check the harsh language, check the prejudice revealed in our words because people belong to a different country, a different state, speak a different language, have a different accent, and resolve in this Season of Lent to fast from such injustice. 

This will be hard if not impossible without the help of the Holy Spirit. Let us ask for this grace, and believe we have received it.

ALMSGIVING Does not necessarily mean giving money, it also means giving of yourself.

I know someone who always smiles, greets, and gives some money to the Bangla Deshi cleaners on the road. I believe that more than the money it is the smile that is welcome and makes him feel visible because he has been acknowledged.

Do you eat out often? You can deny yourself that pleasure sometimes and give that money to the poor. There is a box kept in the church during Lent for this purpose.

Go out of your way to be kind to the person who annoys you most, someone you dislike. Smile at the people who serve you and say thank you. You cannot imagine how it can lift someone’s spirits especially if they have been having a bad day.

Don’t grumble. Control negative thoughts. A negative mind creates a negative spirit. There are some people who complain about everything and create a pool of negativity around them.

We are children of the Light and through every life we touch in the course of our waking hours, and throughout our lives, they must encounter Christ through us or that day will not have been well spent.

Finally let us remember that at the end of Lent we celebrate Easter. We don’t earn the right to rise with Christ by our sacrifices but our prayers, fasting, and almsgiving are opportunities to prepare for the Easter Rising. We do these things to prepare us for the Resurrection. Let us take up our crosses daily in union with Christ because we know if we have been united with him in a death like his, we will certainly also be united with him in a resurrection like his. Rom 6:5