This is (more or less) what I preached at last night's evening Ash Wednesday service. The readings for Ash Wednesday are here.
What are we going to do for Lent? Over the past several days, I’ve had conversations with people about what we should do to mark this time of Lent. I’ve also seen various articles on the topic in the media. Tonight, I’m going to share a handful of other people’s ideas, and one of my own.
What are we going to do for Lent? In our first reading, the prophet Joel gives what may be the best and definitive answer: Return to God with your whole heart. Rev. James Martin points out that the word “return” doesn’t really mean, ‘Try something brand new’. “Return” implies that we’re going back to a place we’ve been to before. So returning to God means: get back to that place and time when our relationship with God was better than it is now. And now is the time, as St. Paul urges us in our 2nd reading. Now, during this season, it’s time to return.
But how do we get back to where we were before, to a better, stronger relationship with God? You’ve probably heard about those three traditional Lenten practices of fasting, praying and almsgiving. Those are three good ways to help us to return to God. But which one should we choose? There is more than one possible answer, and the best answer for one person may not be the best answer for another.
In America magazine, Simcha Fischer writes about a little girl who announced she was giving up popcorn for Lent. An older woman wasn’t impressed; she said the girl should give up something harder than popcorn. But it turns out the girl’s dad pops popcorn for them every night, and then the two of them sit together and munch on popcorn while they watch basketball together. Popcorn is part of their daddy/daughter time together. Fischer points out that the little girl actually is making a meaningful sacrifice by going without the popcorn for a season.
Many of us give up things for Lent, like chocolate or sweets. Margaret Renkl, a writer for the Washington Post, also thought about giving up something for Lent. But then she reasoned that, during the last two years, during this time of COVID, she’s given up so much already – including some loved ones who have died from the disease. Does that describe your life? Have you made more sacrifices recently than you want? If so, then maybe praying or fasting is a better choice for you.
At our last choir rehearsal, Cynthia Havlik from the alto section made a great suggestion for what to do during Lent: fast for peace in Ukraine. Would you be willing to miss a meal, or part of a meal each day, so that Ukrainians may have peace?
Or in case those thoughts aren’t striking a chord with you, here’s my suggestion: pick out a sin, or a sinful habit, in your life. Pick out just one thing – the one sinful thing that, more than anything else, makes you feel terrible about yourself and is standing between you and God. My suggestion is: that’s the thing to do something about during this Lent. It could be a grudge you’ve held against a family member or a co-worker or an ex. It could be a bad habit in your life, like gossiping or detracting or smoking or overeating. Pick out that one sinful thing and do something about that one thing. If you owe someone an apology, then apologize to that person – seek to reconcile. If you need to forgive someone, then – now is the time to forgive. The 40 days of Lent isn’t a long time to change everything about yourself, but it’s enough time to change one thing – so change something important, for the better.
What should we do for Lent? Return to God. Turn back to him through prayer, and fasting, and almsgiving. All of these are roads back to where we’ve been before. Come, let us return to the Lord our God.
My views on what to do for Lent are expressed in my March 28, 2011 post for the Pray Tell Blog, entitled Television, Time Use, Lent and the Divine Office
ReplyDeletehttps://www.praytellblog.com/index.php/2011/03/28/television-time-use-lent-and-the-divine-office/
Simplified my argument is:
1. Fasting from food made a lot of sense in agrarian subsistence economies since an enormous percentage of time was spent in producing and processing food. Any reduction of food use freed up time for other things.
2. Today all the time studies say we in the advance economies are doing less and less paid and unpaid work and have more leisure time. What are we doing with that leisure time? We watch an enormous amount of Television.
3. What should we do with the time we save from watching Television? One of the reasons that we watch so much TV is that is there to instantly fill gaps in time. Now we have internet forms of the Divine Office that eliminate the need for books, ribbons, etc. and enable us to pray the Divine Office in short periods of time spread throughout the day on our computers, pads, and phones. Of course, in addition to fasting from TV and praying the Office we should spend some of that added time in the almsgiving of our time, talent and treasure to the needy.
Almost two years ago I began a blog called The Virtual Divine Office
https://virtualdivineoffice.blogspot.com/
Its subtitle is from the Rule of Saint Benedict
"Let nothing be preferred to the Divine Office"
Each day there are two posts: one called Morning Praise, the other called Evening Song. These posts are headed with the title
Songs of the People of God
because the material for them is drawn from Anglican, Byzantine, Roman and Evangelical traditions.
The Ordo follows the Roman tradition since we are the largest diaspora of English speakers. My suggestion to Christians who want to pray with the many other English-speaking Christians is to try following the Roman order of prayer.
Each post has two complete Roman services on Youtube: one from Divine Office.org which has the advantage of having a small community model but does not sing the full hour, the other from SingtheHours which is a completely sung office by mainly one person (but he is very good).
The post also draws from the huge number of psalms in contemporary music forms that have been placed on the internet by people mainly from the evangelical traditions. I give one psalm for each of the Roman office psalms, but also provide a link which give an extensive list of alternatives to suit one's music taste.
Integrating the Office with life is key goal of the blog. I celebrate the office while doing 30-40 minutes of exercise each morning and evening, either using my treadmill or walking at the lake. However the blog works equally well if I just spread the posts over the day while I work at things on my computer.
It is unlikely that missing a meal will bring peace to Ukraine, but those who choose to fast could donate the value of the food missed for 40 days to one of the humanitarian NGOs who are working to help the refugees.
ReplyDeleteThere are already more than a million refugees from Ukraine. I give every month to both the Jesuit Refugee Service and Catholic Relief Services (via automatic credit card deductions) and am making extra donations to both now as they try to quickly ramp up to assist in this crisis while continuing to help the 26 million already displaced - refugees living in camps throughout the world.
"It is unlikely that missing a meal will bring peace to Ukraine, but those who choose to fast could donate the value of the food missed for 40 days to one of the humanitarian NGOs who are working to help the refugees."
DeleteCertainly, people can do that, and much good might come of it. But I also want to insist that the primary spiritual purpose of fasting isn't to create savings which can be used for almsgiving; fasting can be a virtuous spiritual discipline in its own right.
For those who find the ancient and venerable practice of spiritual fasting to be a bit too "out there" on its own merits, they might consider that there are many Ukrainian refugees who are in danger of missing many meals, and fasting to show solidarity with them could be a good thing.
DeleteYes, Jim. Fasting is a time honored spiritual practice. But it’s also a bit self-referential. One can fast and feel they are closer to God or whatever, but God also tells us to care for others. Fasting for peace sounds good, and is good I suppose, but giving up money as well as food is also good - and very needed right now. People who are starving, or denied medical care, may die. Peace, when it comes, may come too late. Giving up a meal ( or part of one,) in solidarity is lovely, but right now helping to provide food, shelter, and medical care is equally or even more lovely. Donations to NGOs help them to provide food, shelter and medical care which are so desperately needed right now. Doctors Without Borders is another group trying to respond to the dramatic rise in need.
DeleteOne can fast for spiritual reasons, but giving alms in the form of donations to those who are providing material help also is a spiritual practice.
Anne - I agree 100%.
DeleteLisa Murkowski, R of Alaska, has also suggested that maybe we Americans should be willing to pay a bit more at the gas pump and urge Biden to stop importing Russian oil. He is resisting this because he promised to protect Americans from higher gasoline prices. Maybe those who agree that we shouldn’t import oil from Russia should also contact our congressional representatives as well as the White House. Most people could cut down on their driving anyway pretty easily to reduce gasoline consumption.
ReplyDeleteP.S petroleum imports from Russia are only 1% of our supply. Any price impact would be negligible. Not sure why Biden is resisting cutting off these imports.
DeleteMy understanding is that the price for crude is set in the worldwide market, so whether or not we boycott Russian crude, we'll still end up paying the market price. If the rest of the world would agree to boycott Russian crude, then presumably supply would drop and the price would rise (all else being equal). I think I saw a news item earlier this week that OPEC has declined to increase its production, i.e. they will not make up for a decrease in supply should a boycott of Russian oil develop. But OPEC doesn't control all the output of petroleum, and there may be other ways to increase the supply.
DeleteLonger term, I couldn't agree more with those who would say, let's transition more quickly to alternative energy sources. I wonder if the reality of this invasion might help others "see the light" about the necessity of transitioning away from reliance on carbon fuels. But the reality in the US (and many other countries) is that producing carbon fuels is a major industry and many jobs (and much investment) rely on it.
Thé US doesn’t import too much oil. In 2020 we were a net exporter of oil. Don’t know about 2021 as the data won’t be available for a while.
DeleteOther countries are far more dependent on OPEC and Russia for oil.
https://www.eia.gov/energyexplained/oil-and-petroleum-products/imports-and-exports.php
Story In Reuter’s about the OPEC+ deal.
https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/opec-deal-seen-track-despite-russias-ukraine-invasion-sources-2022-02-25/
Jim McDermott S.J. says Catholics: Stop eating fancy fish on Fridays during Lent.
ReplyDeletehttps://www.americamagazine.org/faith/2022/03/04/lent-catholic-fish-sacrifice-242497
He seems to be targeting the wealthy who eat in fancy restaurants. I am concerned about the "all you can eat" Fish dinners sponsored by our parishes. Doesn't seem to be in the spirit of fasting, nor friendly to the environment. Providing vegetarian dinners, even all you can eat vegetarian dinners would be a way toward a healthy diet, and greater identification with the poor who cannot afford meat and fish.
Let's do away with Lent is an essay by a Jesuit that appeared in the Feb. 27, 1982 issue. The editor and others wrote articles in rebuke.
ReplyDeletehttps://www.americamagazine.org/faith/2022/03/04/lent-easter-catholic-give-242516
But by and large what I observe among devout Catholics is a predilection for pain and punishment instead of confidence in growth in the life of grace.
I think that was probably true before Vatican II and may still be true of some people.
However, a strong emphasis upon Lent is observed by the Orthodox even though they have a stronger emphasis on the Resurrection than we have. Their theologians talk about deification (becoming God-like) whereas we talk about redemption and salvation.
I do think there is a strong element of clericalism in our present observance of Lent from the Pre-Vatican mentality that emphasized the superiority of clerical and religious life over the worldly sinful life of the laity. Francis has attempted to correct this by reminding priests, religious and laity of the sin of spiritual worldliness when people purse spiritual things in order to gain wealth, prestige and power.
Well, our fish fry is back. They had a full crowd tonight. I can't be too hard on them for it. People need the socialization after two years of avoiding it. I didn't go, but I was on to play the accompaniment for Stations of the cross, and Benediction. Barely found a parking place. I wish more of the crowd had showed up at church.
ReplyDeleteRe the McDermott column, fish fry’s, “giving up” something for Lent etc.
ReplyDeleteMy Greek Orthodox friend is very observant. So she does give up meat for the entire 40 days. Several years ago I decided to try it. Easy- peasy as the kids sometimes said. I reduced meat consumption many years ago, in fact, I have found that if bef isn’t really high - quality, free- range, grass fed, it doesn’t taste good and I have to doctor it with sauces of some kind. The cheapest stuff at the grocery store is not something I crave. I had zero difficulty abstaining from meat for Lent. I love fruit, learned to love vegetables when I was a young adult, and my most challenging craving is for whole grain artisan bread with high quality butter. And I like fish, although lobster is only an expensive treat. But unprocessed fish is pretty expensive too for a lot of people - more expensive than meat or poultry. Having more pasta primavera instead of meat sauce could be an easy start towards more vegetarian diet.
I’ve never fact-checked this, but I was told many years ago that meatless Friday’s were ordered to help the fishermen in the Catholic Mediterranean countries. And that ordering mandatory celibacy after hundreds of years of a married priesthood was a way to enrich the church - the material assets of priests who didn’t have wives and children went to the church when they died.
Auto spell keeps inserting apostrophes when not needed. Sigh.
DeleteI like most kinds of fish. And I like shrimp a lot, it's what I usually order if we go out to eat. No oysters or scallops though. Lobster is once in a blue moon, not in our budget range. Our go- to things for Lenten Fridays are salmon patties and tuna salad or tuna casserole. Or frozen fillets that you just pop in the oven. And pasta of one sort and another. Not going vegan or vegetarian anytime soon, I have too many family members who are ranchers and farmers.
DeleteWe ordered a veggie pizza for last night. On Wednesday we pulled some cheese-sruffed pasta out of the freezer and heated up a jar of pasta sauce. Next Friday we're going to try to make pasta with white clam sauce - neither of us have had it before.
DeleteKatherine, I’m not a full vegetarian. But I started learning about meat consumption and its impact on health, especially coronary artery disease, many years ago. So we cut back on eating beef and pork. Neither my husband nor I have coronary artery disease but both my brother and my husband’s brother do - both meat and potatoes types. My brother in law had to get bypass surgery about 4 years ago. He is almost 5 years younger than my husband but has been a daily consumer of red meat, bacon, and full fat milk for his entire life. Both of our brothers have afib also. Eventually I learned about how most food animals are raised in this country and began buying certified humane (certified by a reliable group). Certified humane meat, poultry and dairy products are much more expensive than most other meat/animal products. This extra expense impacts the food budget and forced a further cutback in meat consumption in our family. Eventually I didn’t miss eating red meat nor did my husband. He eats mostly fish and chicken, and I make vegetarian dinners a couple of times/week. I often skip the chicken and eat only the vegetables and grains. This is now my preference- it’s not a sacrifice so I can’t get any holiness points for it. I usually do eat the fish.
DeleteWe actually don't eat that much meat and I wouldn't have too big of a problem being the kind of vegetarian that still eats dairy and eggs (I couldn't cook without those!)
DeleteWhat I have a problem with is a kind of ideology that goes with the whole "plant based" thing. Some of the people in that movement don't know anything about farming or ranching. They assume that land which supports livestock could be used to grow crops. A lot of grazing land isn't arable. It's actually more ecologically friendly not to plow it for crops but to leave the native grasses, and graze it responsibly. Some people also assume that ranchers and farmers don't care about their animals and don't raise them humanely. "Factory farming" is a different story.
I don't really care how other people observe Lent. For me, we wear ashes to remind us of our mortality, and Lent is a time to remember that life here is finite and not to waste it in sin and selfishness. Whatever focuses people on that is probably good. Like what Jim said.
ReplyDeleteI do think the local fish fry is a distraction. The local parish makes a lot of money from it and has a cutthroat competition with the K of C event in the next parish. They haven't taken to sabotage yet, but they do send out spies and try to outdo each other in advertising.
It is also a source of deep internal division, with people arguing bitterly over pricing, portion sizes, duties, and the dessert table. It's all about the Church Ladies and their power trips.
Glad Raber has decided he should put his energies elsewhere this year.
Jean, the fish fry competition sounds almost antithetical to Lent.
DeleteThere are no Lenten fish frys in Catholic Churches around here. Some parishes do a weekly simple dinner. Sometimes it’s pizza and sometimes it’s a vegetarian soup. Salad is usually part of it too. Some people only eat the salad. It’s not a fund-raising project as the simple dinners are meant to raise awareness and create “solidarity” with the hungry.
Our daily walk takes us right by our former Catholic parish. Yesterday I went into the vestibule to drink some water at the fountain and noticed the baskets of cardboard “rice bowls” ready for the mass goers. I had forgotten about that parish Lenten tradition, one that I thought was very worthwhile when we still went to church there.
The annual parish Lenten tradition there (and at other local parishes that I am familiar with) is Catholic Relief Services' Operation Rice Bowl. The objective is to raise awareness of world hunger, AND (of course) raise money for the work they do for the world’s poor, many of whom are chronically hungry - solidarity. The cardboard "rice" bowl is part of a packet of materials that educate about world hunger, and provides a calendar of suggested family activities for lent, along with prayers for dinner each day. The rice bowl is for the Alms that can represent the value of the fast - the uneaten meals. There are links on the website to multiple Lenten resources, including vegetarian recipes from different countries. The rice bowls are turned in at the end of Lent. The money goes to Catholic Relief Services not to the parish. I always felt that Operation Rice Bowl was a very worthwhile parish Lenten activity.
https://www.crsricebowl.org/about
Jim, we love spaghetti with white clam sauce. Let us know how you and your family like it. But my husband has developed an allergy to mollusks so I no longer make it because he has to avoid clams, oysters, scallops etc.
Yah, the local parish has become something of a snake pit of factions. Not in any way conducive to worship for someone like me who finds it hard to ignore tensions and feelings flying around.
DeleteWe used to do the rice bowl with The Boy. He was very devoted to it and would put the touch on anybody who came to the house. He insisted on coins going in there because heavier was better in his mind.
That’s a nice story. An upper at a time when it’s really needed! I hope that he still has such a generous heart.
DeleteOh, Lord, yes, let me tell you about the three special needs cats that he inherited from his ex-wife. She disappeared into a northern California rehab center and no longer communicates with him. But he dotes on the cats.
DeleteWhen he was managing the coffee shop, he saved all the day old bagels and partial toilet paper rolls that would have been thrown out for the homeless. He got in trouble for that because the homeless would show up behind the coffee shop waiting for the bagels and toilet paper, and the owner said that would hurt business. So The Boy had to drop stuff off in the park.
He buys all his clothes at the thrift store because we always started there for school clothes and didn't get new unless we couldn't find what we needed there. I sometimes think I created a monster. He settles for some pretty tatty stuff. Fortunately, they provide work uniforms where he is now. I do buy him a new pair of shoes every year for his birthday and got him a good winter coat.
Aw, that's sweet of him to take care of the cats. Glad he at least got them from the marriage.
DeleteSounds like he's a young man with a good heart.
Jean, you should be very proud of your son. His heart for others, including the special needs cats, is something I wish I saw more of in my own sons. The eldest does often come through with empathy if a situation is right in front of him. The other two are good people, kind, but often a bit clueless. I know there is a serious homeless problem in San Francisco, but I’ve never seen a homeless person in the valley - in the suburbs around the city.
DeleteMy youngest son’s wife is very concerned about materialism, consumerism, the environment and waste however. Very concerned about refugees, and the way the indigenous population of Australia are treated. Everything they bought for their new house came from thrift shops, estate sales, and Facebook market. They shop thrift shops for clothing. She buys bags of children’s clothing for $10/bag. She keeps what she wants for thé 3 sons and donates the rest. I’m not sure if she buys her own clothes at a thrift shop or not. Like most French women, she has a very small wardrobe of classic basics, but plenty of scarves and other accessories. She has no need of an enormous walk-in closet.
Geez, I must be French. If it isn't black, white, or gray, it stays in the store. Kept the cost of work clothes low. Made transition to retirement clothes easy. I did pick up a great red leather bag at the second hand store, and I admit to a weakness for gaudy brooches and scarves.
DeleteLol! Your wardrobe sounds like mine, except that I also have a lot of navy blue. Your wardrobe would work perfectly in France - classic styles, neutral colors, scarves, brooches and maybe a great red handbag. Maybe you have some French blood. French women seldom wear prints either., unlike British women, who love floral prints. However they do wear stripes in the classic French nautical sweaters and shirts - navy and white.
DeleteThat was the classic, economical approach for men who work in an office, too: a few suits (mostly gray) and jackets, a few shirts (mostly white or blue). A few pair of pants (mostly gray or black). A pair of black shoes and a pair of brown shoes, and a black belt and a brown belt. Neckties were the accessories.
DeleteNowadays, most people dress down in the office, but the same principles can apply. Not that I set foot in an office more than a few times a year now.
Lent at our Episcopal parish.
ReplyDeleteSometimes I think they are more Catholic than many of the Catholic parishes around here these days. They are definitely more tuned in to Pope Francis' spiritual vision than are some of the RC parishes.
Most Episcopal parishes have an "adult forum" on Sundays, following the coffee/doughnuts. At our parish it's 45 minutes, with a speaker, often someone who is not part of the parish. However, this year the Lenten Adult Forums are being led by the interim pastor, with the final session led by the parishoner who arranged the parish retreat with Holy Trinity, the Jesuit parish in Georgetown. (see retreat information at the end)
From the weekly parish email
Upcoming Lenten Activities
Adult Forum
Various people resonate with different styles of prayer and worship. We will be exploring these over the course of Lent. The final session will be a coming together in person of both those who have participated in the zoom retreat and those who have been at the in person adult forum sessions for a wrap up session
March 6 (Lent 1)
Prayer and Temperament: Thomistic Spirituality
March 13 (Lent 2)
Prayer and Temperament: Augustinian Spirituality
March 20 (Lent 3)
Prayer and Temperament: Franciscan Spirituality
March 27 (Lent 4) 7 Signs of parish Vitality
April 3 (Lent 5) Setting the Captives Free Final Retreat Session
Setting Captives Free:
Racism, I and You and God's Liberating Grace
A PERSONAL IGNATIAN RETREAT
during the weeks of February 27 - April 3, 2022
Retreatants are offered the explicit gifts of revelation, repentance, lament and contrition and implicit gifts of transformation, reconciliation, and reparation, which may be given by God and received by the retreatant in God’s time.
Retreatants are asked to commit to 30 minutes of prayer each day for the six weeks of the retreat. Small groups (6-8 individuals) will meet on zoom for 90 minutes during the weeks of February 27, March 6, 13, 20, 27, April 3 for confidential spiritual conversation to share the fruits of their prayer. Read a full description of the retreat and how to register https://trinity.org/ignatian-spirituality/setting-captives-free/
That is pretty Catholic!
DeleteAnd not a bad thing, true? It's the kind of thing that causes people to wonder, 'Why can't we be more unified than we are?'
Jim, as I said, more Catholic than the Catholics. In my many years as a Catholic, I never saw anything like this offered in a parish. This why some Catholics become Episcopalian - Episcopal parishes often retain what is best in the Catholic tradition, but far less of the stuff that becomes an obstacle to many Catholics. They also have the Book of Common Prayer. The liturgies are very close to RC, but the language of the prayers, the translations, are often more beautiful - more poetic.
DeleteIf we lived a bit closer to Holy Trinity in Georgetown I would consider a return to their pews. I used to go to the weekday 5 pm mass there, in the original church which is now a small, stand-alone chapel. It is beautiful- completely simple ( no bad “art”), holds about 30 people, and the Jesuits give perfect 5 minute sermons. Just enough to think about - and no music. Blessed silence instead.