Three Resources for a Great Lent

Rend your hearts and not your clothing.

Return to the Lord, your God,

    for he is gracious and merciful . . .

Joel 2:13

That beautiful season of stripping down the non-essentials to re-focus on only one thing is almost here! *squeee!!!*

yes, I did squeel with giddy joy about Lent

The One Thing is a Who. Lent strips us of what we perhaps focus on too much, to refresh and recenter our perspective on the Lord, for He is “the one thing” we need more than anything.

In Luke’s Gospel, Jesus tenderly (in my reading of the story) scolds Martha for her anxieties about all the chores in the kitchen, while at the same time telling her there is “need of only one thing” (Luke 10:42). The one thing is to be in His presence, attentive to His love and His Word.

That’s it. Easy peasy pie, right? I mean, how difficult can one thing be?

You know as well as I do, just one thing requires dedication and focus. We’re all distracted, almost 24/7, by very real demands and duties of our vocations.

But only one thing, Jesus says. Choose the better part…

And this is why I love Lent, because the Church in her wisdom urges us to pray, fast, and give. To strip down from the things which distract us and threaten our relationship with the Lord. To turn our hearts back to Him. To step away from the world’s clamor and towards the Lord’s healing love and mercy.

Lent is a favourable time in which to rediscover faith in God as the foundation of our lives and of the Church’s life.

Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI

How can we rediscover faith in God, as the foundation to our lives?

Make the Sacraments a priority.

The Sacraments are God’s unique gift to us, tangible means through which He made it possible for us to receive His grace–His very life–in our lives. It’s beyond my imagination what love is contained in the Sacraments, but I know it’s incredible. So let’s make space in our lives for the Sacraments, those doorways to living in greater grace.

Already going to Sunday Mass? Great! (It’s required, with dispensations for illness and grave matters) Try adding in a daily Mass.

Go to receive the healing of absolution in Confession, at least once. The Lord’s mercies in that sacrament are so beautiful (also, we’re supposed to go at least once a year). Making a prayerful examination of conscience beforehand will better prepare our hearts for the forgiveness poured out to us.

Enrich our prayer time and daily living with a spiritual read, something which draws us into prayer and holy living.

Spiritual reading is like a soul workout. You can read Scripture, a devotional, something written by a saint. Ask my family, and they’ll tell you I’m always telling them to read whatever I just finished, because it’s “the best ever”, “now in my top 3”, or “so good. Just so so good. You need this book.”

The goal, I think, is to grow in deeper intimacy with the Lord. Spiritual reading can help with that, because we’re opening our minds and hearts to The Lord and to the invitation to live differently because we love Him.

• Reading Scripture maybe is the most obvious option here, because it’s truly the inspired Word of God. What better way to know Him than to listen to Him? Try reading a Gospel during Lent, or maybe the Psalms. I personally love reading the Gospel of John.

• Devotionals and writings of the saints are, to me, like taking a journey with a great mentor or holy friend. My favorite recent read by a potential saint is He Leadeth Me by Father Walter Ciszek. Here’s a quote:

. . .in whatever we do, we must always seek first the kingdom of God. That is, all of our actions of every day must be accepted as from God and referred back to him, must be done in a way that fulfills his will, for in this way alone is the kingdom of God promoted and spread upon earth.

Father Walter Ciszek, SJ in He Leadeth Me

Devotionals tend to focus on a theme, and there are so many to choose from it could certainly be overwhelming. If decision fatigue already threatens your peace, skip it! There is no requirement to add a devotional. Often simply reading Scripture (like the daily Mass readings!) is the best place for your heart and mind to rest.

But if you’re feeling drawn to a little extra, I’d love to recommend the Blessed Is She Lent devotional, “All She Had” (get it here). The BIS devo looks at interior poverty and learning to depend entirely on the Lord.

And new this year, there’s a MEN’S devotional! Father Innocent Mongtomery, CFR, wrote “Born of Fire” (grab it here for your husband, your dad, your brother). Fr. Innocent wrote to lead men to deeper understanding of who they are as men, reflecting each week on a different identity in the Lord: sons of God, brothers of Christ, men after God’s heart, spouse, father, mystic, and ‘new man’ in Christ. Honestly, it looks great. And the CFRs will be discussing this on their podcast through Lent as well.

Give your kids some enriching ways to learn about and live Lent.

Move beyond “give up chocolate” for Lent. It could be the right thing for your kiddo, or it might do little to draw them into a better understanding of offering things out of love for the Lord. Here are some of my favorite ways to engage my children, and some activities to use in homeschool lessons or as a compliment to whatever home catechesis you do. If you’re not already teaching your kids about the faith at home, consider this a nudge to take a small step this Lent and try one or two of these ideas! You can totally do it.

• Set up a box in your kitchen as a “food for the poor” box, and each week add non-perishable goods from your pantry to the box. Feeling ambitious? Choose something daily for the box, and donate it to your local or parish food pantry at the end of Lent.
  
• Make goody bags for the men and women you see on street corners. Read more about that here. Our family now does this year-round. Bonus: add a prayer card to the bag.
  
• Go to Adoration with your children. Teach them about resting in the Lord’s presence. Need some help with this? I’ve got you covered here and here.
  
• Doing the Blessed is She women’s devo? Add the kids’ book, make some coffee for you and tea or cocoa for them, and have prayer time together at home.
  
• Engage their intellect & creative brain with fun worksheets from The Kennedy Adventures (I’m going to use the word puzzles and coloring pages), a Saint Joseph story from Faith Blocks, or coloring pages of the saints from Catholic Paper Goods.