It's Not About the Easter Bunny!



Deny yourself and take on more

 Even though I had planned a series of blogs on misconceptions about the Catholic Church, today is special, so I had to write a little bit about Lent.

This is one of my favorite times in the Church calendar.  It is a season that helps us to focus on the upcoming celebration even more than Advent does for Christmas.

As a child, this was not such a favorite time.  Our family gave up popcorn, soda, and candy.  Inevitably, one of my friends at school would offer me some candy and I would either turn it down or take it home and save it until Easter.  We also went to Mass every day of the week.  This part I did not mind so much because I was able to be the Altar Server, which I loved.  I didn't care so much, however, for the Stations of the Cross because it was longer and I had to walk along the Stations with the priest while I held the cross.  I gained a new appreciation for my walk when we had a priest in my high school years who could not walk the Stations himself.  He told me that someone had to walk the Stations or we would not receive the Indulgences.  Now I had a purpose.

As I got older, Lent became a time that was not so much what I was giving up, but what I could do extra.  I tried to read the Bible more, or do a daily Rosary.  Although this was, in my opinion, a good way to follow the Lenten path, it didn't seem like enough.  I justified not giving up anything because I really didn't eat much of the things I was giving up.  This year, I decided to make a significant change.

Lent is meant to be a time of reflection and preparation for Easter.  I shared what Lent was and meant to my family with a reporter.  I learned a lot about the history of Lent.  It is not as much a Biblically based season as it is traditional.  The Church, in it's earliest years, used this time to prepare converts to the faith.  As the years went by, more and more of the Church's members took on the penitential aspect of the season for themselves.  I am thankful that we no longer follow the complete removal of meat from our diets during Lent.  That, to me, would be just too much!  "Fat Tuesday" was originally a way for people, along with neighbors, to get rid of all their meat, dairy, and other food stuffs that had to be refridgerated over the Lenten season.

As I was saying, this year I wanted a significant change.  Along with our family dropping the soda, popcorn, and candy, I also chose a few other things to deny myself.  They are not drastic, but I think they will cause me to think of the season I am in as I make a choice to follow my plan.  As always, I have also chosen to spend more time with God, whether it be in reading the Bible, other religious writings, or in prayer.  I am hoping that this year, Lent can be that nudge I need to make a life-change.  As one of my favorite writers, Matthew Kelley says, "Our lives change, when our habits change".