Today is Fat Tuesday, Shrove Tuesday, Mardi Gras...whatever you like to call it. It is the last day of feasting and celebration before we turn our hearts to a much more solemn and sorrowful season of the Catholic liturgical year. Lent is a time to prepare our hearts for Easter. We must come to the foot of the cross, repenting of our sins and truly grasping our need for a Savior. It is at the foot of the cross that we can bring all of our troubles and sins and be met with mercy and love. For our God is loving and He is merciful! He wants nothing more than for us to bring Him all of our struggles and He will give us the strength we need. It is in Christ's presence that our peace is restored and we feel strengthened. He is the source of our goodness.
St. Augustine (in his book, Confessions) said it so well and it is quoted in the Catechism:
"You are great, O Lord, and greatly to be praised; great is your power and your wisdom is without measure. And man, so small a part of your creation, wants to praise you: this man, though clothed with mortality and bearing the evidence of sin and the proof that you withstand the proud. Despite everything, man, though but a small a part of your creation, wants to praise you. You yourself encourage him to delight in your praise, for you have made us for yourself, and heart is restless until it rests in you." (CCC 30)
Our hearts are restless until they rest in Him. Lent is a time when we bring all of ours sins before God. We must acknowledge those sins, receive the healing grace of the Sacrament of Reconciliation and then begin to prepare for our renewal of our baptismal promises at Easter. So what are you going to do for Lent to draw closer to Christ?
Our family this year has much planned. The boys are finally at the age where they can really participate and begin to understand what we are doing. I started by setting goals and making a poster board with our goals. I got the awesome idea from Shower of Roses and Family at the Foot of the Cross. I took their ideas and made our own! Here is what we came up with:
We have set goals for Prayer, Fasting and Almsgiving that the boys can do. I have also listed seven scripture verses that the boys will memorize one per week. I will sit down today and fill out the post-it notes, which will get replaced with purple ones. The flowers on those are far too cheery for Lent. On each post-it note will be something that the boys have to go around the house and count how many of that item and then we will put the corresponding number of pennies into a bowl. At the end of Lent, those pennies will be a donation from the boys to the poor people. Underneath the post-it note will be some good deed, prayer or act of giving that they will perform for the day. Whew...it will be a busy Lent, but hopefully one that we can all grow closer to Christ! We will be doing crafts from the Lent-Easter Book which is amazing! Every family should have this book!
One of the biggest sacrifices my boys are going to make is no TV except for Religious videos. Poor little guys have no idea that Lent is 47 days; they will surely be missing Curious George and Cat in the Hat by Easter, or will they? My hope is that they detach themselves from it and most likely, they will adjust better than I will. This is more of a sacrifice for me, since that is my free time each day. It will be good for us all; TV is a luxury that we should do without.
As for me, I have 5 bible studies that I am doing, 2 of which will end about the time Easter comes around. I am going to replace much of my free time with studying and preparing for those bible studies, but also doing some additional reading. The first book I want to get through is True Devotion to Mary by St. Louis De Montfort. This book is heavy theology, so I have to read it two or three times before I somewhat understand a paragraph. At the end of the book, you make a total consecration to Mary and I am finally ready to prepare myself for this! I hope to do this by Easter. I will also be doing this study: Come and See Catholic Bible Study: The Synoptics while reading the text of Life of Christ by Fulton J. Sheen that correlates with it. There is so much more that I want to do and read, but I think this will keep me more than busy. Hope I still have time to clean the house! ;-)
I have never done much fasting, but since I am not pregnant or breastfeeding for the first time in 5 years, this would be the perfect time. I am abstaining from soda through Lent and will fast on Wednesdays and Fridays throughout Lent...not true fasting of only bread and water, but rather only one meal for the day, no snacking and the other two meals combined cannot add up to the one regular meal for the day. This fasting will be a good reminder of my need for God and not to cling to the things of this world!
My prayer for our family and friends is that this Lent proves to be a time that you are able to draw closer to Christ, meditate on the sacrifice on the Cross and find peace in Him!
