3 goals of Lent: Change, conversion and new beginning

How do you find meaning in Lent? Each year this holy season falls more and more into the realm of the usual routine and less about discovering Christ. See how author Alex Basile explains how to make this Lent about setting a new path in life.
 

Every Ash Wednesday, I hear the same old bold Lenten predictions. My family, my students and colleagues I work with set goals for this holy season. The optimistic, but safe objectives are the same each February. I, too, attempt to eliminate some nonessential elements from my life for forty days.

Many adults use Lent as a kick-starter for a diet or new exercise regimen. Catholic guilt can serve as an excellent catalyst. Catholics grapple with the concept of sacrifice and change of habit during Lent. We begrudgingly avoid bacon and cheeseburgers on Fridays. We boast about our loyalty to fasting on Ash Wednesday and Good Friday. We seem to easily rise to the challenge of sacrifice during Lent. However, our main problem lies in the fact that our sacrifice is misguided. 

When my students ask what our goals should be during Lent, I offer a simple three-fold approach:

1. Lent should be about living the Gospel every day.  The Gospels are defined as the life, teachings, Passion, Death and Resurrection of Jesus Christ. To get to the heart of its message, we must examine how Jesus lived. We may be surprised that the actions of our Savior were consistently simple. He spent every moment pulling the lost and forgotten back into the fold.

Jesus chose the resume of the ultimate failure rather than the valedictorian. He preferred the flawed, instead of the flawless. The ministry of Christ was the first Lent. The Good Shepherd urges all of us to follow his approach. The average person usually pushes away the unlovable in favor of those more accepting and agreeable. Our attitude must be the same as Jesus. 

Lent should initiate our awareness of those who need the most attention.  The internet and constant new blitz heighten our awareness of global suffering. However, there are many people who live in our shadow that require our immediate care. The lonely need to hear the voice of compassion. The sick demand our companionship. The alienated call out for friendship. Our broken relationships need the assistance that only the love of Christ can repair.

2. Lent requires a redefinition of the word "sacrifice." We assume that the word "sacrifice" means giving something away or denying ourselves of something.  Lent should raise our awareness of the things we take for granted. The sacrifice of Jesus Christ makes us realize that what we possess is even more powerful than what we are giving away. The abundant nature of God's love outweighs sin, selfishness and even death. 

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Our Lenten sacrifice highlights our free will. Since creation, God has left us to our own devices to choose our own path. During this season, we must reflect on what we have and what we need to change. We hear of how Christians are persecuted in other countries for their faith. In a country where we say and do as we please, are we giving Jesus and those around us all that we truly can?

3. Lent is time for spiritual "spring cleaning." After a long winter indoors, we long to throw open the windows and clean the house of unwanted dirt and dust. Lent urges us to the same. What are the unwanted habits that you want to eliminate from your life? What are the certain behavioral patterns that make you less than the perfect Christian?

The way to answer these questions is through reflection and prayer.  Older Catholics speak of a type of Lent where music and television were put on hold for the season. Although this practice has faded, we must discover our own peace and quiet during Lent. The only way to reveal the interior life is through silence.  Separate from the chaos and surrender to prayer. Put your self in the presence of God and just talk to Him.

Conversion requires a complete turn in a different direction. Leave the old you behind. Follow the advice from Blessed Teresa of Calcutta:

"As Lent is the time for greater love, listen to Jesus' thirst...'Repent and believe' Jesus tells us. What are we to repent? Our indifference, our hardness of heart. What are we to believe? Jesus thirsts even now, in your heart and in the poor -- He knows your weakness. He wants only your love, wants only the chance to love you."

Use your heart and hands to emulate Jesus. Make Lent your new beginning.

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