What are you going to do during Lent this year?
This is a typical question asked of ourselves or others. What are you going to do during Lent this year? And I would suspect that often times we do the same thing every year. We give up this or give up that. We take on this or that. We begin with the best intentions…kind of like New Year’s resolutions.
And will these things we choose ourselves lead us to conversion? (Which is what the season of Lent is all about.)
Perhaps that is the wrong question to ask. A better question could be: Lord, what do you want me to do for you this Lent? Don’t you think that is a better question?
For one, it is seeking the will of God for this season of grace. And secondly, God’s will always leads us deeper into his love and an experience of grace.
Lord, what do you want me to do for you this Lent?
The Church teaches that the Lenten season is a time for repentance and conversion. But it is not only a penitential season, but a season of grace. What does that mean?
Grace
What do we mean by grace? Let me offer a couple of definitions. St. Paul in his letter to the Romans 3:24: “[We] are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus.” Grace is what the Lord gives as a gift that is free and undeserved by sinners.
But St. Paul, in his letter to the Corinthians, also says this: “God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that having all sufficiency in all things at all times, you may abound in every good work.” Now, that seems to picture grace as a power for living – both living in the world as a disciple of Jesus and living more deeply in Him.
The life, death and resurrection of Jesus is the greatest love story known to man. In this season of Lent, the Lord desires to pour out his grace, which emanates from Jesus’ saving action, upon us in new ways that will lead us to a deeper conversion to him.
The three important ingredients for conversion as outlined in the Gospel are prayer, fasting and almsgiving. We cannot leave these things out and expect a deeper life in Jesus to happen.
May we pray daily with expectant faith and trust; may our fasting united with prayer fortify our spirit for the battle against sin; and may our charity answer the call to love the poor and needy, those abandoned and rejected, those discriminated against and marginalized.
May Mary, our Mother, accompany us with her maternal presence, so that this season of conversion may bring forth the fruits of eternal salvation for ourselves and the world.
Wherever the Lord leads you on this Lenten journey, I wish you many graces and blessings.