Lent 2021

The Great Fast begins today! My goal is to stay off social media during the week, and only pop in on Sundays, if at all. I also have other penances lined up, but this year I don't feel like sharing all of them. It could be that I just heard the gospel reading where Jesus literally warns his disciples to not let everyone you know that you are fasting. Ha! Okay Lord, I did get your memo...(Matthew 6)

Still I feel I can share that I am in great need to carve out the space for God to work in my heart. I am so grateful for this time every year. Some years I have really thrown myself into the Fast and so much good fruit came about. Other years, I have had morning sickness, or a newborn, or for whatever other reason life itself had enough difficulty in it for me to lean on my faith as I want to be so my Lenten practices were fewer. And that is okay. Mike and I brought 6 babies into the world in a span of 12 years. We've been afforded plenty of opportunities to be humbled in our parenting adventures. (As well as life outside of parenting, of course!) We have let sin creep in, and the fallout from that has made us less loving, more selfish, and less inclined to hear God's voice. In other words, we have needed healing in a major way. *I* have needed healing. And I always will. 

Enter the actions we set to take on during Lent. Sometimes we've set high standards for Lent and failed. Sometimes we've set lower ones and seen them through to the very last day of the fast. It just depended on what was going on in life and I do believe whatever we did, however small, God used that effort for good (He is amazing like that...)

This year, I definitely feel the pull to more asceticism. I feel like I am being asked to give up more, to change my habits more dramatically, and to turn to PRAYER as my first impulse for everything. 

Feeling sad, Kayleen? Go pray. Feeling restless? Go pray. Feeling bored? Yep, you can also go pray! Side note: this was a recent revelation I had. As a busy homeschooling mother of 6, you would think being "bored" wouldn't really be a thing...but I have news for you. It is! I would maybe categorize it as a sentiment of, "what do I have to look forward to?" because especially with Covid stuff, unfortunately feeling that way is fairly common, and I know I am not alone in this. Last year I remember around this time (though Lent started a bit later) feeling on the brink of life getting REALLY crazy and busy, with a new baby. Instead, things went flat and dark and suddenly no one was doing anything, except staying home and worrying. So, my point with that is, prayer can be a great remedy to boredom! Already I have done it more in this past year than I ever had before, and I'm secretly shocked at how I feel better after going to the prayer corner and spending time in prayer. You would think after 15 years of being a Christian I would not be...shocked. You would think I'd have figured out this very handy "trick" by now :D but hey, it is what it is. 

 

The Liturgical color in the Eastern Rite for Lent is red, not purple like in the Roman tradition. 

But back to Lent 2021. It is here. It is good. It is NECESSARY. And I am ready. Will you join me in offering something up for the next 6 weeks? Even if you aren't a Catholic or even a Christian - you could do it and see what happens. Think of something that you lean on but that isn't necessary to living. Soda? Coffee creamer? Playing on your phone before falling asleep? Chocolate? It could be anything but the point isn't so much that you are letting go of it, but that you are filling it with something better. Maybe, if you don't believe in God, it could be that you fill it with acts of service. Or you could give the money to charity that you would have spent on that "treat." It is worth a try! You might be surprised at the good fruit it yields in your life. Just for 6 weeks. See if you can do it, even if you are the type of person who enjoys a good challenge. You would be joining millions of Catholics around the world doing the same. 

For our family, this year's journey to Pascha (Easter) feels full to the brim with potential. What will God do in our lives? How will we be moved? Challenged? Blessed? What growth will we experience or what area of our lives will reveal more work to be done? But because I am a Christian, most of all, my heart swells thinking of that sweet day in March when we will celebrate the end of the 40 days in the desert, and the end of death - or, as we Christians call it, the day of Resurrection! Because that is the entire point, right?