This Wednesday is Ash Wednesday, the day which serves as the entrance into the season of Lent. I find it interesting that Lent and Easter come not even quite halfway through the Church calendar for the year. The life of Christ is much more than the time he spent here on earth and the Resurrection isn’t the end of the story. He is with us always and the Body of Christ that he created and made us a part of shows that he is living and active. It is in order to make more room for him in our hearts that each year we remind ourselves during Lent to sacrifice a bit of our creature comforts in solidarity with the suffering of the Cross. It is a small thing that we do, but it is our faithfulness in the small things that pleases God. We cannot all die as martyrs in a pagan land, but we can all practice a holy Lent.

I would like to encourage you that what you do really matters. You are a soldier for Christ and your contributions to the Church are not without their good effect. Let’s not waste our opportunity. Lent is a season of penance and poverty. We have an enemy and that enemy is Satan, the temptations of the world, and our own sinful habits. We also have a goal, which is to defeat the enemy through the power of the Cross so that we might worthily celebrate the Resurrection of Our Lord at Easter. Lent becomes the foundation for the way in which we live our entire spiritual lives.

Even though our contributions may seem small: no meat on Fridays, Fast on Ash Wednesday and Good Friday, perhaps attempt to pray more and drink less soda… whatever your intentions are, even if they seem small they can still be difficult to accomplish, especially because we are looking at more or less 40 days of penance. We may start with the best of intentions but either forget or lose motivation by the end.

In the spiritual life, it is good to have a plan and to develop steps to accomplish the plan. Make it simple. It is kind of like exercising. I have known people who decide to get in shape and lose some weight, so they go to the local gym and sign up for a big, expensive membership and buy a bunch of expensive exercise outfits and decide that they will go to the gym every single morning for 1 hour at 5am. They do this once or twice and then give up because the goal was too difficult. For an opposite example, there are other people who decide to get in shape and they start walking for 15 minutes a day in the neighborhood, they do this for a few months and then feel good and maybe start jogging a little bit, then they set small, attainable goals like running a 5K in 3 months. Eventually these people are in much better physical health than they were and are accomplishing goals they never would have been able to if they had tried to do it right away. Same with the spiritual life. You and I are not saints, and we cannot all become St. Anne or Joachim during this Lent. But we can become just a little bit better, a bit closer to Our Lord. And that matters.

So, know your goal, make a plan, make a modest plan, and stick to it. Don’t just say that this Lent you “want to pray more”. Also, don’t decide that you want to pray for a full hour every day. Instead, decide something modest and specific, like, I am going to remember to pray for my family while I wait for the coffee to brew in the morning, or while I brush my teeth. Praying more is a good plan if we can make concrete steps to accomplish it. I would also recommend choosing a spiritual book to read, or a daily scripture meditation, we have some here on the tables that you can take, these aren’t massive theological works by St. Thomas Aquinas, but they are insightful and they are short enough that we have a chance at sticking with them for an entire Lent. Maybe you want to give alms, which is a good Lenten practice; decide to contribute specifically to those who are less fortunate either through a set amount of alms or giving your time. Again, make your plan specific and modest. I am going to give 20 dollars to the St. Patrick Center this lent. I am going to give the money that I would have spent on food on Ash Wednesday to the St Vincent De Paul pantry.

I know that we can do it! And if you fail, like I often do when I forgetfully eat meat on Fridays, know that God loves us whether we are saints or sinners. He cares about your heart, and your willingness to confess your sins. He finds each of us precious and worthy of his love. I do not know why he loves us so much, but we all ought to be eternally grateful and give him our best effort and all of our love in return.