Q. Lent is here and I never do very well keeping my resolutions until the end. Is that a sin? How can I approach Lent and sacrifices more successfully?
A. Lent is a season of penance in which we turn away from the things of the world and toward Christ.
Popular piety within the Catholic Church has led to Catholics adopting Lenten resolutions to better enter into the spirit of Lent. While these are voluntary and as such breaking them is not sinful, taking on additional penances during Lent is laudable and, for the sake of greater conversion to our Lord during Lent, we should strive to keep them as best we can.
First and foremost, when determining what observances to adopt we must first ask, “how does this help me to turn away from sin and more fully toward Christ?” Adopting observances simply to adopt them misses the whole point of Lent. Having a clear intention in place—as to why we are doing what we are doing—helps us keep our observance because we are not doing it just to do it, we are doing it to draw closer to Jesus.
For example, if a person wants to discipline the senses by giving up social media, that’s great. But it is better if it does not end there. The individual could go a step further and say, ‘the time I would normally spend each day on social media, I am instead going to to pray or read Scripture or some other sacred writing or dedicate to serving others.’
Lenten observances are best when they are not just giving something up, but rather replacing something with some spiritually enriching practice.
We want to be careful though, to not take on too many observances. The Church traditionally identifies prayer, fasting, and charity (understood in this context as almsgiving or good works) as the three elements of penance. While we should try to do something for all three, we don’t want to overburden ourselves. If we take on too many observances it becomes all the easier to break them, as it drains us too much. Concrete, reasonable penances that we can actually maintain for 40 days are the goal.
It is perhaps counterintuitive, but our Lenten observances should actually be life-giving. We should be invigorated by them because we are finding our joy not in the passing things of the world, but in the eternal love of God. This does not mean that they are not challenging, but it should be a good challenge. It is analogous to working out: it might be hard, and we might get tired, but it’s a good tired and a fulfilling challenge that re-invigorates us and actually makes us more joyful people.
As a priest once told me, “make sure your penance does not make you a penance for everyone around you.” You might think waking up at 2 a.m. to do a middle-of-the-night holy hour will be spiritually edifying, but if it makes you tired and grumpy all day and interferes with you fulfilling your work or family obligations, then it is not a good penance. The challenge of penance is that we endure it with joy. If our observances make us jerks, then it’s time to adopt new ones.
Do not be afraid to change your observances if they are not working. Again, Lenten observances are about conversion, so if your observances are not contributing to you deepening your relationship with Christ, adopt new ones. There is no penalty for changing up observances. We should be careful to not change observances simply because they are hard but, if they are not working, there is no reason to stick with them.
When all is said and done, personal Lenten observances are just that—personal. We set the “rules” for them ourselves. Lent is about turning away from sin to Christ. How we choose to do that is left up to us.
This question was answered by Father Caleb La Rue, chancellor of the Diocese of Lincoln. Write to Ask the Register using our online form, or write to 3700 Sheridan Blvd., Suite 10, Lincoln NE 68506-6100. All questions are subject to editing. Editors decide which questions to publish. Personal questions cannot be answered. People with such questions are urged to take them to their nearest Catholic priest.
