Lent: Set a game plan to accomplish God’s plan

ANCHORAGE, Alaska — The beauty of our liturgical year is that the seasons guide us to clarify meaning in our very human lives, which are in constant flux. With each season we have the chance to refocus and renew our faith. We have a tendency to loosen our focus and relax our spiritual drive when we become too comfortable. So now, here we are in the aftermath of Advent and Christmas, coasting along, and Lent is on the horizon to engage us again in the journey of our spirits. In just a little over four weeks, we will begin our 2022 Lenten journey.

On the surface, Lent seems to be the same thing year after year: prayer, fasting, and almsgiving. I think we often see Lent as a “twofer.”

“I’ll give up junk food as my sacrifice and I’ll end up looking great!” or, “We’ll have soup every Friday and I won’t have to prepare a big meal!” We don’t say it out loud, but we’re thinking it! We are human. Digging a bit deeper, however, Lent should be very different each year because we have changed since the year before. We’ve endured new struggles, experienced unique joys, and encountered new aspects of relationships. Maybe our faith has grown; maybe it has faltered. All kinds of things, human and spiritual, have been secreted in the depths of our hearts since the last leg of our Lenten journeys.

Lent is a time for spring cleaning, reaching into your heart and finding those things that you’ve stashed away in the darkness. Cast away the hurts, the failings, fears, embarrassments. You’ll surely find dusty, dented treasures within that you can refresh, repair, shine, and bring into the light. Maybe there are friends to reconnect with, family hurts you can repair, or talents you stopped making time for.

The greatest treasure you might find is that tender place of intimacy with Christ that has become overgrown with the weeds that Satan often sows to obscure our sight. Open the windows to that remote place in your heart and let in fresh air and light. Then your heart will be ready, open, and spacious for the indwelling of the Holy Spirit.

Intentionality and simplicity in prayer, sacrifice and almsgiving go a long way to enhance their effectiveness. Have a game plan for each day during the 40 days of Lent. When you start every day, turn it over to God through prayer. This alters your mindset for the day, setting your perspective. Verbalize to God your tasks for the day, the worries you carry going into the day, the areas with which you need help, and ask for guidance.

This prayer can be offered in just a few minutes. The hard part is this: you have to leave those tasks, worries, and needs to God’s providence for the day — the entire day! Throughout your day, practice five-second prayers of thanks: “Thank you God for the sunrise”; “Thank you God for getting me through that meeting”; “Thank you God for my family.” It is quick, but keeps you in the mindset of God’s gifts in your life.

I find it very enriching to read and reflect upon the Scriptures for each day. Adding 10 minutes of prayer time every day gives room in your day for this. There is a myriad of apps for your phone and online daily meditations you can use to guide your prayer. One of my favorites is, “Best Lent Ever,” for which you can sign up to have short podcasts come to your email inbox every morning.

You can feed two birds with one fish by reconnecting with friends and family all over the world to pray via FaceTime, Google Meet, and GoToMeeting among many other media. One of the nice aspects with these prayer meetings is they can be planned for your drive to work. Before Ash Wednesday arrives, make an intentional blueprint for your Lenten prayer life.

Fasting is most often thought of as abstaining from food, but it can be so much more. Take time to reflect on the one or two distractions that most keep you from being truly Christlike, or that drown out God’s voice. Discern how you can “fast” from those distractions and in their place insert prayer or service to others.

Some are as easy as turning off an electronic device for Lent. Last year, I turned off social media and rarely turn it on to this day. I was frankly surprised and delighted that it lost meaning for me. Others are more difficult. Are you a news or politics junkie? Getting that out of your daily brain consumption can flush out a lot of unholy thoughts! Is there someone who gets under your skin? Don’t fast from the person, but try fasting from reacting in irritation. There is a great deal of discussion among psychologists about how long it takes to form new habits; however, all agree on these things: intentionality, routine, and time are key. And as people of faith, we have God to shore it all up. We put forth the intention and make the routine, Lent provides us the time and God imparts the grace to transform.

Fasting from food is of great value to our bodies and spirits because it strengthens our physical discipline and allows us to control our physical desires. It gives us the ability to suffer with purpose and control our base desires with our higher purpose. When we attain the ability to endure the small sufferings of hunger, how much easier is it to endure the sufferings of unjust chastisement or subtle social persecution resulting from standing up against evil. We are always in training physically, spiritually and mentally to live thefaith and uphold truth! The quality of the training is up to us.

When contemplating almsgiving, the third component of Lenten practice, sometimes we focus on “treasure” and forget about “time” and “talent.” Perhaps this Lenten season you can expand your almsgiving to include all three of these. In our current economy many of us struggle financially, but imagine the impact if every Catholic in Alaska earmarked just $5 a week for one church mission or charity — maybe give up a fast food or coffee run. That would be $520,000 a week, $2,080,000 a month going to help missions, homeless, abused, all kinds of people in need.

Anchorage and all of Alaska is rich with opportunities to give the gift of your time. There are shelters everywhere in need of food, clothing, and volunteers to provide support for those in need. I would argue that these are the places Jesus was most often found.

Consider taking a few hours to clean out your closets with shoes, clothing, coats and blankets you rarely use anymore, and take them to a shelter. Take an hour to make sandwiches to deliver to Brother Francis or another shelter. When downtown or elsewhere, make eye contact and acknowledge the person you might see huddled on the corner or who seems to have lost hope. Those few seconds of acknowledgement can make all the difference to both you and the person you truly see, for perhaps the first time.

Being an active participant in your parish is also a wonderful way to give your time and talent. If you see a need, meet it. Check to see how you can support the ministries of your parish, whether you have ample or limited time to give, you can have a lasting impact.

Being a second-generation Irish Catholic, the words, “Offer it up, Lizzy,” are forever in my mind. It used to invoke an internal eye roll, but as I grow in age I have come to find the truth in it. Offering up time, prayer, and suffering for those around us blesses the giver at least as much as the receiver. I wish you all a new Lent this year that will draw you more deeply into intimacy with Christ!