The Lenten Season


I was raised to be the type of Catholic that looked down at other religions because they didn't know what it meant to suffer.  My God was one to be feared and the only way not to go straight to hell was to show sacrifice.  Apparently, God didn't want me to wear make-up, go out on Saturday nights, or laugh too loud.   Enjoying life was not consistent with what my God wanted for me.

As I became an adult, my God also evolved.   I began to view God as loving and forgiving, and that he did not want me to suffer.  In fact, he wanted me to alleviate suffering whenever I saw it in others. God wasn't satisfied that I labelled myself as Christian, he wanted me to act like a Christian, and that was really all he expected from me.

But, I still struggled with Lent.  It was a time of sacrifice and repentance and I have always felt that I needed to give up something significant for lent.  It had to be difficult so that God would truly appreciate my commitment to him.   It had to be something that rivaled Jesus's sacrifice to me.  Usually, for me, it meant giving up something that was impossible that I had no hope of giving up for 40 days.  I typically gave up "white food"; bread, sugar, dairy, and potatoes.  I think one year I lasted 4 days.

Pope Francis gave his Lenten message yesterday and I read the translation on Facebook today.   It was translated into "facebook" which is a very different language than English.  According to Facebook, the Pope read a syrupy hallmark card.   I went and read his actual message.

Essentially, the Pope acknowledged that Lenten is about sacrifice and repentance.  Jesus gave his life for our eternal life.  The Pope said, just because we are likely not going to equal that sacrifice" doesn't mean we get a free pass into heaven.  We will not arrive in heaven in a horse drawn carriage without earning our entrance there.   When it comes down to it, God won't be overly impressed if you give up your morning latte for 40 days.   What God will be impressed with is we make a commitment to bettering the world by bettering ourselves.

We all have things that we need to work on and to improve ourselves.  We all need to be kinder and more repentant.  We all need to learn from our mistakes, accept responsibility for our actions, and take every effort to be better.   The ripple effect will be amazing and the world will be a better place.

If you need advice on what to give up during Lent, try giving up resentments and petty jealousies. Try to give up finding the differences between us, and try to find things we actually share in common.

God will notice and be impressed.

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