3 practical ways to grow this Lent

Photo by Thays Orrico on Unsplash

As a child, one of the first things I often heard people mention about Lent was to ask the question, “what are you giving up?” Random strangers or people who never seemed to talk about anything else to do with matters of faith, would suddenly speak about what they were ‘giving up.’ And the default was always chocolate and sweets! 

As a result, it often made me view Lent as a period of deprivation, where there seemed to be an awful lot of sacrifice but for very little reason. I had no idea why you would actually want to voluntarily give something up just because you happened to celebrate with a load of pancakes the day before. But it seemed to be the done thing.

Forty days for what?

It was only as a young adult, at university, that I began to take Lent seriously because I began to understand and appreciate its purpose and why exactly the Church gives us this period of time within the year. Lent is a period of forty days running from Ash Wednesday to Holy Thursday and during this time, Catholics are encouraged to do three things: pray, fast, and give alms. 

Although we might be tempted to see these days purely as deprivation, as I did as a child, the intended consequence is that we become more conscious of the place God should have in our lives. Lent isn't just about “giving something up,” but rather coming closer to God and growing in our relationship with Him. If it’s only about the externals - losing a bit of weight or making ourselves feel better, then frankly, we’ve lost the point.

Why is Lent worth it?

St. Catherine of Siena is quoted as saying, “nothing great is ever achieved without much enduring.” We see this all the time in the sacrifices people make for their fitness, their professional goals, their finances. It might not seem great to us if we make an effort to take Lent seriously but the little sacrifices we endure or the small extras we add to our life of prayer, all add up over time to something much greater. Not only do we grow in our virtue and character, but we do so because we have put God as the goal.

Lent is a chance for us to step out of the orbit of ourselves and go towards God, His mercy and His forgiveness, because I think on some level, we all know that we need it. If the Church suggests that we pray, fast and give alms, it's to remind us that there is an order of importance in life that needs to be restored: God, others, myself. Let's think about how these three things of prayer, fasting and almsgiving can help us get this order right.

1. Pray - a way of putting God first 

Any friendship we have needs to be sustained. How exactly? By spending time with that person and cultivating our relationship with them over time. Prayer is just that, developing a relationship with God. In very simple ways too. During Lent, we might make a decision to attend Daily Mass more frequently or if that isn’t always possible to make a habit of calling into a church to spend a little time in front of the Blessed Sacrament, just to speak with Him. I once heard someone say they were “just popping in to say hello” and the warmth of their statement struck me, like they really were saying hello to a friend.

Developing our reading of spiritual books is also a great way to get to know more about the life of Jesus - either directly by reading one of the Gospels, or by reading a biography of a saint.

2. Give alms - think of others and try to give them what they need

Lent is always a great time to consider the needs of others who are less well off and Ireland has a great track record of standing in solidarity with the poor and destitute around the world. But giving alms doesn’t always mean giving financially. We can start a little closer to home.

Our colleague asks us to help them with their work and explain something to them yet again! A chance for us to give a little more patience. We get stuck beside that boring relative at the family gathering again and the conversation is literally as dull as dishwater! A chance for us to give a little more charity. Our child loses that one thing they need to get out the door on time, again! A chance for us to smile and give a little more kindness.

3. Fast - step outside your comfort zone

Sometimes the best sacrifice we can give is the one that helps us to live our ordinary life and work well. Although we typically think of fasting as giving up food or drink, we can fast from anything that we might look to for comfort during the day or that we might use as a little consolation. Things like checking our email or scrolling social media when we’ve hit a snag in our work and just feel a bit too tired to fight to find the concentration needed, or letting Netflix ‘play next episode’ when we know we really should get ourselves to bed! 

Like anything in life, we only get out what we put in, and with Lent, it is important to begin well if we want to end well. As Venerable Fulton Sheen said, “unless there is a Good Friday in your life, there can be no Easter Sunday.” If we want the joy of the Easter Season, then we need to carry our cross as well. Our small sacrifices and efforts this Lent will help us come to a better understanding of what ultimately gives true happiness - God, others, myself.