Dear Brother Knights,
We have just begun the great season of Lent. There are many ways to describe the season: The Church’s Annual Retreat, Spiritual Spring Training, Season of Penance and Almsgiving. However one may describe the season, it is fundamentally a time of spiritual renewal for the individual and the church collectively as the people of God and disciples of Jesus. The goal is to look at oneself, take stock of one’s spiritual flab and undertake disciplines to flex one’s spiritual muscles into shape so that one may conform more into the image of the Obedient Son, Jesus, the Christ. Hence some describe the season as Spiritual Spring Training.
The day of this writing is Thursday after Ash Wednesday. The front page of the Rock Hill Herald featured the distribution of Ashes as observed at St. Anne’s and other Churches around the country. The articles focused on people giving things up and reaching out through almsgiving which are both commendable and traditional disciplines for Lent. In this article I wish to share the reflections I came to this year on Ash Wednesday.
Perhaps, we can recall our own initiating into the discipline of Lent. As children we were taught to give up candy for Lent. Children love candy and so it was a natural choice for our parents and teachers to suggest this to us. Note: they never suggested giving up Vegetables. (That is a need and not a want). Many adults continue in their Lenten sojourns to give up something they like for Lent; perhaps not candy anymore for obvious reasons. On Fat Tuesday I was at a Mardi Gras dinner party and I heard parishioners mention that they were going to give up chocolate and wine. Another mentioned that he was going to give up meat and another said she would give up bread. A brother priest chimed in, “now don’t go too far”. The priest was on the mark because bread is more of a need than a want. We often remember the training involved in giving up something we like but my experience has been that many people seem to forget the other part of the training: That is to give up something you like so that with the money saved you can share with others who don’t have anything to eat. The idea was to fast from want to share with others something they needed; to be less centered on self and reach out to others. The fasting was tied to almsgiving. The practice or discipline was designed to help us take on the image of God in our lives wherein we are more and more centered on care for another than focused on ourselves and our wants. Jesus emptied himself of his divinity and took on our humanity so he could help show us the way to be more faithful to the Father. Let me suggest that when considering one’s Lenten discipline be careful. I know one woman who elected to give up coffee for Lent. After a week and a half she was so distraught. She wanted to know what to do. See she was successful in giving up the coffee, however she was disturbed by the fact that she seem to be worse off in her spiritual journey. Just before she came to see me, she had snapped at her husband; was more irritable, than usual, with the kids in getting them off to school; and she found herself more prone to biting off the heads of her co-workers. I suggested that, since coffee is not a bad thing and perhaps it’s a good thing that God wants her to have, perhaps, she could consider some other want to forego. After all, giving up the coffee seems to be giving her more data for the confessional. So this situation goes to the heart of what I am proposing. First of all, be sure the sacrifice is a want and not a need. Dietary fasts and abstinence are commendable, but I propose another consideration: Sacrifice some personal time and visit a friend or relative who is alone and could use the affirmation of a warm visit. (After writing this, I read in the Herald that some people said they were giving up Facebook and time on the internet to spend quality time in being actually present to people.) Perhaps couples that are so taken with time for children, work and other activities may consider making some time for themselves to build and strengthen their spousal love. One may need to make room for some time alone for prayer, scripture reading or some other spiritual book that will help one grow deeper in love with God.
Many of us are taken easily into the bad activity of gossip perhaps we could watch how we speak; refrain from gossip, from negative talk about others. If one is in managerial or supervisory capacity be careful in critiquing. Constructively offer the critique and most of all be sure the critique is with that person involved and not 5 others around. Remember only the supervisee can change the behavior. He or she may not even be aware that his or her behavior is an issue. So healthy critique can be an act of affirmation. Living in a world where there is so much negativity or talk that tears down perhaps curbing our participation in the negative talk and sharing constructive critique and affirmation can build up the communities we find ourselves in and so contributing to a healthy and wholesome environment would be a worthwhile discipline to engage in this Lent. So there you have it. My proposal of an alternative spin on traditional disciplines of Lent. By no means is it exhaustive but this is a start.
Called by virtue of our baptism as Christians and as Knights of Columbus, and soldiers of Christ, let us together join the charge of the Lenten Spring Training. Let the choice of our chosen discipline be one that truly changes us. Keep in mind that often a non- dietary discipline undertaken is often a bad habit one is attempting to change so a return visit after Easter is not advisable. Instead when Easter arrives the joy and the glory is in that for Forty Days one has met God’s grace, cooperated with it and succeeded in changing oneself into a stronger disciple of Jesus. With the Victorious Christ you will have died to the old and become a new creation in Christ and our conversion becomes true testimony to the expression of our Fraternity,
Vivat Jesu!
Fr. Jim Moran, C.O.
Chaplain
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