How can I better prepare for Lent?

Q: Can you help me better understand how I should approach the Lenten season? I always seem to find myself in the season without any preparation and then make a knee jerk commitment that I rarely follow through with. Anyway, I am a bit ahead of the game this year but would be grateful if you could help me improve my participation in this important time.

A: It’s admirable that you want to live the season of Lent in a better way. Many people, unfortunately, think of Lent as merely a time to “give up something.” They grudgingly accept some small sacrifice, hold their nose for 40 days, and then, once Easter arrives, return to business as usual. Lent shouldn’t be lived like that. It is meant to be a season that leads us to a deeper conversion of heart, a closer identification with Christ. Lent has a close connection to baptism. In the early Church, adults preparing for baptism would go through a catechumenate. This program, as the name implies, involved catechesis, or instruction, about the faith. The Roman-style catechumenate, officially in place by A.D. 200, extended over two to three years and involved intense preparation each year during the six weeks prior to Easter. As the candidates approached their day of baptism (usually on Holy Saturday) they would fast for a few days. The community would join them in this fast. This was the origin of the Lenten fast. (The tradition of a 40-day fast was established in Rome in the fourth century.) The community in effect accompanied the catechumens and also prepared to renew their own baptismal commitments at Easter. And what does baptism do for us? Among other things, it “gives a share in the common priesthood of all believers” (Catechism, 1268). The common priesthood involves the work of sanctifying, teaching and governing. Our personal example of holiness can help carry out the first work; our words, the second; and our good use of authority (be it parental or political or some other type), the third. In any one of these three areas we could find ample reasons to work on something during Lent. Moreover, “Scripture and the Fathers insist above all on three forms, fasting, prayer, and almsgiving, which express conversion in relation to oneself, to God, and to others” (Catechism, 1434).

So what does it mean for us concretely? It means that we should aim to get rid of sin from our lives forever, and not just during Lent. You mention about making a “knee jerk commitment.” Instead of a spur-of-the-moment decision, try to set aside some time for prayer and calmly and deeply look at your life. How is your life of piety now, compared to a year ago? What are the sins you confess the most? Those sins might give you an idea of where you should focus your energy. Then, give yourself a concrete goal during Lent, something that will help you battle these particular sins. Give yourself a reasonable goal, something that you can continue to live after Easter. For example, if overeating is a problem, don’t opt for a bread-and-water diet three days a week. The likely result is that on Easter you would pat yourself on the back and then return to your old ways. Rather, learn to make a small sacrifice at each meal — and then see if you can continue that habit after Lent is over. Be sure to give your sacrifices a spiritual motivation too, such as for vocations or for the conversion of a loved one. The other two parts of the triad — prayer and almsgiving — are also crucial parts of the equation. Try to attend daily Mass. Pray the Stations of the Cross once or more times a week. Daily rosary and spiritual reading are good too. If you can get a spouse or a friend to join you in these extra activities, that is even better. And don’t forget almsgiving. This can involve acts of charity or volunteer work as well as donations to worthy causes. And keep in mind those baptismal commitments. A Lenten program could include efforts to share the faith more at your workplace. In a word, make your Lent pro-active. The habits you develop in these 40 days can serve souls all year round.

How to deepen your relationship with Christ this Lenten season

Prayer can be a great consolation to us. It is often the means of God’s grace to strengthen, encourage, and guide us. It is also hard work and requires a strong commitment to persevere. This doesn’t mean that it should be a straining exercise. Still, when we choose to pray we are thereby rejecting other things that might be pleasurable to us. For instance, I know one very busy business man who, though he is a “night person” by disposition, gets up at 3:30 AM every morning to pray. He is driven by a deep passion to know and live his life for Christ. Still, he doesn’t enjoy the challenges related to getting up this early.

St. John of the cross is often criticized for his negative emphasis on denying self. However, this is a matter of perspective. The man I am speaking of does deny his own desire to sleep more, to sometimes have more energy and acuity during the day. But, as he denies himself he is also choosing something very good. Because of the graces God has provided in response, he experiences a great deal of joy and peace in the midst of challenging physical and work related circumstances. His wife would also give testimony to the significant changes that have come in his life because of his commitment to Christ and Christ’s generous response.

What I am getting at here is to propose an initiation or a deepening of your daily prayer life for lent (and beyond). This will involve sacrifice, but it will also bring great graces. If you are up for the challenge our readers have already weighed in on the best resources for this in their responses to our post Tattered Titles. I would like to highlight two of those resources:

The first is Fr. John Bartunek’s The Better Part – A Christ Centered Resource for Personal Prayer. This really is an exceptional work. If you have yet to develop a substantive prayer life, this is the place to start. If you are stuck, his insights and daily meditations will help you past these challenges. This particular approach to prayer will deepen your love for and relationship with Christ and help you to make significant strides in your spiritual life. For a sample of the daily units check out the Wednesday posts on this site.

The second is, Divine Intimacy – Meditations on the Interior Life for Every Day of the Liturgical Year by Fr. Gabriel of St. Mary Magdalen, O.C.D. This work provides profound insights into the life of God that can greatly deepen our understanding of our Lord and the life we live under His wings. While Fr. John’s book focuses on an encounter with Christ in the Gospels, Fr. Gabriel provides regular insights into the spiritual life based on the insights of great spiritual masters of the Carmelite tradition.

If you wanted to double up in your efforts to dig deeper in lent, use The Better Part to deepen your morning prayer, and Divine Intimacy to fulfill a new or existing commitment of daily spiritual reading and reflection. Both of these books are a bit on the costly side. However, you can also see this as a sacrifice (Fr. John’s book would cost you about the same as 10 visits to Starbucks, and Fr. Gabriel’s about 15).

Both of these works provide for daily insights, perspective, and conversation with Christ – which is the goal of all authentic meditation and spiritual reading. Christ has great treasures waiting for you this Lenten season. Why not give up some time and treasure, and give more to God? It will and should be a challenge but you won’t regret the decision.

PS: For those of you who are fans of these works, it would be great to hear from you about how they have helped you in your spiritual growth. Oh, one more thing – please share this post on Facebook and Twitter so you can bless your friends with this idea – particularly those of you who already know the great treasures that lie in store for those who take up the challenge!

How can I better prepare for Lent this year?

Q: Father John, How can I better prepare for Lent this year?

A: You have no idea what God has in store for you this Lent (but God does, and he is looking forward to it!). On the other hand, you do know that God has chosen to work in our souls through the Liturgy, and that includes the liturgical seasons. So preparing for Lent means getting ready to hear and heed what God wants to say to you during those days. The Church gives us three general directives in this regard.

First, intensify our prayer life

Start thinking now about how you can do this. It’s a good topic to talk about in spiritual direction. Do you need to increase your Eucharistic life, give more discipline to your personal prayer time, inculcate family prayer time, go on a retreat? God will put something on your heart. But be realistic. Don’t let your eyes be bigger than your stomach (in the spiritual sense).

Second, embrace the Cross

Lent is a penitential season, a time when we remember how self-centered we have been and tend to be, and renew our commitment and efforts at repenting and growing in Christian love. This is the origin of the tradition of “giving something up for Lent.” The idea is to make a sacrifice, denying our naturally self-indulgent tendencies in some way in order to unite ourselves more fully to Christ’s redeeming sacrifice on Calvary. This is not merely a self-help kind of resolution. It is a self-offering to God: “Lord, many times I have chosen to do my own will instead of yours. By offering this sacrifice I want to learn to take up my cross, to say “yes” to you and your will, following in Jesus’ footsteps.” Whatever we give up (e.g. watching sports, eating desert) or take on (e.g. daily Mass, weekly Way of the Cross) as our Lenten sacrifice (again, be realistic), the key is to give it that truly Christ-centered meaning.

Third, the practice Christian charity

Lent is a time to prepare for the fruitful celebration of the Lord’s Passion, Death, and Resurrection during Holy Week. That Paschal Mystery was God’s unfathomable and amazing testimony of love for us sinners. There is no better way to get in tune with that self-forgetful and self-sacrificial love than by imitating it. During Lent we should make a special point of serving our neighbors – but here again, be realistic. Here the traditional corporal works of mercy can spark ideas. The Catechism reminds us of them (#2447)

Instructing, advising, consoling, comforting are spiritual works of mercy, as are forgiving and bearing wrongs patiently. The corporal works of mercy consist especially in feeding the hungry, sheltering the homeless, clothing the naked, visiting the sick and imprisoned, and burying the dead.243 Among all these, giving alms to the poor is one of the chief witnesses to fraternal charity: it is also a work of justice pleasing to God

Something in the air of spring brings out new buds, new branches, new life. The word “Lent” has its etymological roots in an Old English word meaning “spring.” Something in the air of Lent will bring out new buds, new branches, new life in our relationship with Christ; we just have to open up some windows.

Yours in Christ, Father John Bartunek, LC

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How can I go deeper in my faith this Lent season?

I recently had the opportunity to speak to a great group of men at parish here in Colorado about my conversion to the Catholic faith. One of the things I shared was the unusual amount of personal suffering I have experienced. The short list of loss includes a brother and sister in their thirties and a niece at two years old. At a young age I have lived the difficult reality that life, for any of us, can end at any moment. Faced with this understanding, there really is no better time than the present to ensure that when we see God face to face he says, “well done” rather than “depart from me, I never knew you.” The latter is a terrifying thought, the former, a glorious one.

At the end of the talk, one of the men asked, “How would you advise someone who is ready to go deeper in their faith?” Here’s the “Going Deeper” plan for anyone looking to better prepare their hearts for this upcoming holy season:

1) Get a copy of “Inside the Passion” by Father John Bartunek and commit to reading a portion of it every day during Lent (starting Ash Wednesday, February the 17th) with a finish date of Tuesday the 1st of April – the day before Good Friday. If you finish this ahead of time, commit to one decade of the Sorrowful Mysteries on a daily basis or pray through the Stations of the Cross each day. A great way to do the latter is through the “Passion Companion” which also leverages the artwork of the film to held us better experience the Stations of the Cross devotion.

2) Commit to praying for five minutes (or add five minutes if you already pray) on a daily basis using any prayer that appeals to you (i.e. Our Father, Rosary, etc). Ask God to reveal himself more fully to you, just as the father of the sick boy in Matthew 9:24 asked Jesus, “…I do believe Lord, please help my unbelief.”

3) Watch the “The Passion of the Christ” on Good Friday. Be careful to watch it devotionally instead of from the standpoint of entertainment. Watch it at night just before you go to bed. Don’t pop any popcorn and keep the chips in the pantry. Prepare your heart and enter into the film. Pray that Christ would reveal himself to you. Engage with Christ as he gives his life up for you. Ask Him, “how can I give back to you in return for such an overwhelming gift?”

After Lent, use that same prayer habit you developed during lent (or further developed) and learn to know Christ more deeply. Pick up a copy of Father John’s book, “The Better Part.” Learn to meditate on the incredible person and work of Christ on a daily basis.

You will never regret your investment in your eternal destiny, and you will never be the same.

Seek Him – Find Him – Follow Him

Dan