Is there life after Lent? - Article Easter 2013
Ahh Lent! Time to give
something up, time to add a new challenge, time for sacrifice. We all know
about the 40 days of Lent: we follow our Lord into the desert by eliminating
one of our frequent indulgences or adding an unusual undertaking to our life.
Whatever we do should be something difficult for us to manage; it should
reflect the suffering Christ had in the desert and/or make us more mindful of
our actions. But is there life after Lent?
When my youngest daughter was around eight years old, she decided to give up sugar for Lent. Believe me, this was no small feat for her, nor for me, as I became the “confessor,” “mediator,” “and master,” for all things sugar. This wasn’t my choice, but as the Catholic parent, I should know the rules, right?
I didn’t know and consequently she drove me nuts Monday through Saturday until she could indulge on Sundays. When Lent was over, I told her never again; never again was she allowed to give up sugar until she could manage the sacrifice on her own. She never intended to eliminate sugar from her life and I wasn’t sure if she learned anything from her 40 days of sugar withdrawal.
This sacrifice of hers has led me to question this practice of giving something up for Lent. It always seemed to me that yes, it should be a sacrifice, but it should be something we can actually manage and that we are willing to give up or add forever.
Plus, if Sundays are “days off,” what does that mean for our sacrifice: If we’re trying not to gossip, can we gossip on Sundays? If we’re trying to pray more, can we quit praying on Sundays? And if we are giving up sugar, can we overindulge on Sundays? And then what does it mean once Lent is over? “Whew! Time to get back to the gossip trail again!”
As I’ve researched and talked to many people in the know, I’ve discovered we don’t get much direction in Life after Lent. But I found this passage about Lent that gave me a clue as to a direction we can follow after Lent. It was written by Neela Kale for Busted Halo online magazine:
…we know Lent as a season of conversion: we acknowledge the ways we have turned away from God in our lives and we focus on turning our hearts and minds back toward God. Hence the three pillars of Lent are prayer, fasting and almsgiving. These observances help us turn away from whatever has distracted or derailed us and to turn back to God. Giving up something for Lent is ultimately a form of fasting. We can deprive ourselves of some small pleasure or indulgence and offer that sacrifice up to God. Or we might “give up” a bad habit such as smoking as a way of positively turning our life back towards what God wants for us.
So maybe your mom was on to something when she had you give up Oreos or your favorite TV show as a child. An experience of want, however temporary, can help us to appreciate the true abundance in our lives. And a small positive change can have a big impact that lasts beyond the 40 days of Lent.
Although we should not take on a Lenten sacrifice with the attitude, “what’s in it for me,” we should come out closer to Christ through our journey. After our 40 days of sacrifice, we should ask ourselves, “how has this changed me?” “What have I taken away from these 40 days of sacrifice?” “How will I proceed with the knowledge of this change in my life?” “How have I grown closer to God?”
So there is life after Lent; what will you take with you from the desert?
When my youngest daughter was around eight years old, she decided to give up sugar for Lent. Believe me, this was no small feat for her, nor for me, as I became the “confessor,” “mediator,” “and master,” for all things sugar. This wasn’t my choice, but as the Catholic parent, I should know the rules, right?
I didn’t know and consequently she drove me nuts Monday through Saturday until she could indulge on Sundays. When Lent was over, I told her never again; never again was she allowed to give up sugar until she could manage the sacrifice on her own. She never intended to eliminate sugar from her life and I wasn’t sure if she learned anything from her 40 days of sugar withdrawal.
This sacrifice of hers has led me to question this practice of giving something up for Lent. It always seemed to me that yes, it should be a sacrifice, but it should be something we can actually manage and that we are willing to give up or add forever.
Plus, if Sundays are “days off,” what does that mean for our sacrifice: If we’re trying not to gossip, can we gossip on Sundays? If we’re trying to pray more, can we quit praying on Sundays? And if we are giving up sugar, can we overindulge on Sundays? And then what does it mean once Lent is over? “Whew! Time to get back to the gossip trail again!”
As I’ve researched and talked to many people in the know, I’ve discovered we don’t get much direction in Life after Lent. But I found this passage about Lent that gave me a clue as to a direction we can follow after Lent. It was written by Neela Kale for Busted Halo online magazine:
…we know Lent as a season of conversion: we acknowledge the ways we have turned away from God in our lives and we focus on turning our hearts and minds back toward God. Hence the three pillars of Lent are prayer, fasting and almsgiving. These observances help us turn away from whatever has distracted or derailed us and to turn back to God. Giving up something for Lent is ultimately a form of fasting. We can deprive ourselves of some small pleasure or indulgence and offer that sacrifice up to God. Or we might “give up” a bad habit such as smoking as a way of positively turning our life back towards what God wants for us.
So maybe your mom was on to something when she had you give up Oreos or your favorite TV show as a child. An experience of want, however temporary, can help us to appreciate the true abundance in our lives. And a small positive change can have a big impact that lasts beyond the 40 days of Lent.
Although we should not take on a Lenten sacrifice with the attitude, “what’s in it for me,” we should come out closer to Christ through our journey. After our 40 days of sacrifice, we should ask ourselves, “how has this changed me?” “What have I taken away from these 40 days of sacrifice?” “How will I proceed with the knowledge of this change in my life?” “How have I grown closer to God?”
So there is life after Lent; what will you take with you from the desert?