Lent as Time of “Giving Up”

If you ask most Catholics what they are doing for Lent they will probably tell you what they intend to give up. For people my age this practice of giving up some favored item or behavior began with childhood. We would give up eating candy (or other sweets), watching television or reading comic books. In more enlightened religious education programs, we might be persuaded to contribute the money saved by not buying candy or other treats to the missions or to the poor. In some circles, I hear there was even a sort of rivalry to see who could claim the greatest sacrifice. Adults, too, gave up things for Lent usually smoking or drinking or getting angry at spouse and/or children.

One might think of this as a modern version of the early Church’s thirst for suffering. I don’t think it as prevalent a custom as it once was but I still hear creative echoes of this self-denial. A friend of mine once gave up newspapers for Lent because he realized that he was spending way too much time reading the paper and that time could be better spent on the Lord’s business. Another friend gave up sleep deprivation (actually she gave up staying up late) because she realized the lack of sleep was dulling her. What both of these friends were doing was seeing how the denial of one substance or behavior could open up time and energy for truer things. I think this is much closer to authentic Lenten activity.

Lent is not about giving things up just for the sake of giving them up. It is about creating new capacities in our lives for loving God and our neighbor. The classic Lenten practices of prayer, fasting and almsgiving are tools to do just that. Our Lenten practice should help us be more truly ourselves, to live in a far more genuine manner.

My congregation, the Adorers of the Blood of Christ, sponsors a program called

LifeChoices ® that helps women and men discern their life’s calling. The intent of the program is to help the participants clarify what they want to do with their lives and identify what they need to do to follow God’s call. The sorts of questions these seekers are asked to reflect on are of great spiritual value for us all whether we are called to priesthood, the religious life, marriage or the single state. Ask yourself:

• What is my true life’s calling?
• Do I feel I am answering God’s call with my life?
• Am I ready to give myself completely to God?
• What stands between me and living in greater unity with God?

I wonder if the best Lenten practice we could engage in this year would be to “give up” the barriers to being who God calls us to be. Maybe instead of saying, “I am giving up _________ (fill in the blank)” we could simply say, “I give up.” When we give up the whole of our lives, God can move in and direct us in the path that provides us with all we need; that leads us to the joy and peace we all desire.

Happy surrender, happy Lent, happy life.

Sister Diana Rawlings is Vocation Director for the Adorers of the Blood of Christ, United States Province. Saint Maria De Mattias founded the Adorers of the Blood of Christ in 1834 in a small Italian village to serve and educate the poor. Pope John Paul II canonized De Mattias on May 18, 2003. The Adorers' American mission was founded in 1876 and has evolved into the United States Province. Today, 425 sisters, 371 associates, 150 volunteers, and 229 employees serve Adorer ministries in spiritual enrichment, health care, education, pastoral ministry and social justice here and abroad. The Adorers' United States Province has headquarters in St. Louis and centers in Ruma, Illinois; Wichita, Kansas and Columbia, Pennsylvania.