Lent 2010

So for Lent the frequent question bandied about is usually, "What are you giving up for Lent?" I think we often treat Lenten sacrifice more like New Year's Resolutions that lack the spiritual aspect of true sacrifice; when we crave or desire that which we give up, it is meant to invoke the sacrifice of Jesus and make it a meaningful part of the day in those places where the things we give up would usually fall. Anyway, as spiritual and introspective sacrifice can be, I choose to add something rather than, or sometimes in addition to, some kind of sacrifice. We sacrifice to recall Christ's self-giving, but we can also add to respond in different ways: to better honor our bodies as temples of the soul; to reflect how we as people are made in God's image; to respond to Jesus' call to self-giving.

This Lent, my added elements will be returning to my recently unearthed charism of trust and humility. I have been seeking a way to re-stabilize my nightly prayer and here I think I have found it. In place of or maybe in addition to the usual thanks and praise, I will process my day in the hermeneutic of trust and humility. I want to gain perspective on the decisions I make and actions I take and discern how they do or don't reflect trust in God and humility in myself.

My hope is that (1) I remember to do it each night and go through is conscientiously rather than begrudgingly and (2) that a diligent discipline in prayerful reflection will bleed over into my day. I hope that reflecting in prayer on these important virtues will make consideration of them more natural and instinctive to my constant decisions and actions.

As with all virtues, these are mostly ideals--things that require perfection, which we cannot really reach. Humans cannot be perfect, but we have the saints as models of the pinnacles of man's capabilities as good Christian children of God. We must work to pursue the Christian ideal--Christ was perfect, and though I cannot be, it is in seeking that perfection of Christ that I grow and develop in faith and love most.

We'll see how this goes...