In the Catholic Church year, before we celebrate Christ Risen at Easter, there are the forty days of Lent laid out to be a time of preparation for the coming feast, similar to the forty days that Jesus spent in the desert to prepare for His ministry. As part of our preparation, many Catholics like to abstain from little extras that they enjoy in their lives, from chocolate to social media, but we often forget to ask why? Is the point to become more healthy, responsible, or have a more Instagram-worthy lifestyle? Actually, it is none of these. Making a sacrifice is not like another New Year’s resolution for Catholics but instead an effort to remove or remove ourselves from the things that keep us further from God, and to add the things that bring us closer to His love.
As Mother Teresa famously said, we should all “do small things with great love.” Not everybody can become a saint who lives a life of astonishing adventure culminating in martyrdom, but anyone who wishes to can perform daily tasks with love for God and others. Essentially, Mother Teresa touched upon the goal of a Lenten sacrifice: to do something small with great love for God, trying to make yourself closer to Him for the celebration of Easter. Personally, there have been many Lents in which I have given up a snack of some sort, yet it did not bring me any closer to God because of my intentions. I viewed it as something I had to do, not one that I wanted to do. Yes, I did do something small, but without “great love” as Mother Teresa advised. The prayerfulness of the act is what counts, regardless of its size.
The ‘what’ of the fast can be the tricky part, though — sacrifices that are both attainable but have the right intentions behind them are not always easy to find. It takes a little reflection to know what is best for your friendship with God this Lent. The simplest place to begin the reflection may be the three pillars of Lent: fasting, prayer, and almsgiving. The question is whether you would like to distance yourself from something that distracts you from God (fasting), have more conversations with Him (prayer), or to serve Him by serving others (almsgiving). With your intention in mind, setting a small goal that relates to it is all that is needed, be it saying a Hail Mary in the morning or giving up a favorite dessert. Try your hardest to keep it joyfully, and do not let any setbacks discourage you — remember, Jesus died to free us from sin! We give things up for Lent to trim sin’s hold on our hearts and replace it with God’s love, so let yourself be guided by this love as you fast for these forty days, and let it fill you with the grace to do it well.
By Elisabeth Smith ‘28, Middle School Editor
28esmith@montroseschool.org
