Tag: Sacrifice

What Should I Give Up For Lent?

“Why do we fast, but you do not see?

Why humble ourselves, but you do not notice?”

Isaiah 58: 3

We abstain from meat on Fridays, have designated days to fast, and offer up our own sacrifices during the Lenten season. Sometimes, it can feel like it all goes unnoticed by God, and maybe we will not be encouraged to take it very seriously. We might think that we have to do something really hard for God to notice and be pleased. I used to approach Lenten fasts as an extremist, pushing to see how much intensity I could handle. Though a lot of good still came out of my fasts, I was missing the point.

 

What is the point? Does God notice? Is He pleased?

At the start of Lent, Ash Wednesday, we receive ashes. We recall the words God spoke to Adam, “You are dust, and to dust you shall return (Genesis 3: 19).” It is a humbling reminder that we have not created ourselves—that we are not in control of the amount of time we have on earth. This should not be confused as a command to lie in the ashes and remain in a pit of despair—as we must also remember the words from the Psalm, “He raises the poor from the dust, and lifts the needy from the ash heap (113: 7).” We have been raised up, and we are to live in the light—His Light. The ashes are a reminder of where we come from, but also that we are now called to mission.

Throughout the Lenten season, we discipline ourselves to remember this calling.

 

Fasting is a concrete action to represent the sacrifice of our personal wills, making room for the acceptance of God’s Most Holy Will.

Abstaining from meat on Fridays and fasting on Ash Wednesday and Good Friday keeps the Church united in our shared mission—to make disciples of all nations (Matthew 28: 18-20). As we all have a different role within this mission (1 Corinthians 12: 12-31), we are also called to make personal sacrifices. These will not look the same, because we struggle with different personal sins—different obstacles that prevent us from fulfilling our mission. Lent is a time of purification. Weeds are removed so that the flowers have room to grow. How can you make your fast transform your life beyond Easter Sunday?

 

Looking at the seven deadly sins, I have proposed some ideas to help strengthen your Lenten sacrifices.

Lust 

    • Give up social media after 10 PM. Color a picture, pray a rosary, or read instead.
    • Give up chocolate. Pray for self-control in desires of the flesh every time you crave it.

Gluttony

    • Give up snacking in-between meals. Write a meal plan, and stick to it.
    • Give up chocolate. Offer up a prayer of thanks for what you have every time you crave it.

Greed 

    • Give up Netflix. Donate the money to your parish or a non-profit organization.
    • Give up chocolate. Make a fun treat to share with a friend or family member.

Sloth

    • Give up the snooze button. Get on your knees and offer your day up to the Lord.
    • Give up chocolate. Get through your to-do list without focusing on rewards.

Wrath 

    • Give up breaking the speed limit. Choose to be patient, and offer up frustrations.
    • Give up chocolate. Pray for someone who annoys you every time you crave it.

Envy 

    • Give up comparing yourself to others. Write a letter to someone who has inspired you.
    • Give up chocolate. Use the money to give a gift to someone you do not think deserves it.

Pride

    • Give up doing what you want. Set aside time to discern what the Lord asks of you.
    • Give up chocolate. Eat something you do not prefer.

 

Regardless of what you gave up, the Lord can transform you through it.

My point is not that you have to give up chocolate—I did not, myself—but God can transform you through the littlest sacrifice if your heart is in the right place. Will you let Him change you, or will you just wait anxiously for Easter to arrive? The point of fasting is not to sacrifice now and indulge later. It is also not supposed to make us intolerable to others as we are burdened by what we cannot have. Make a joyful sacrifice. Be renewed.

 

Give the Lord your chocolate, but do not keep from Him your heart.

 

 

Mikayla Ruth Koble is a Catholic writer and speaker for COR – Cats on Rockets, a non-profit ministry she co-founded in 2016. Originally from North Dakota, Mikayla has moved around the country and landed in Michigan. Wherever she goes, she seeks to lead others to an encounter with God’s Love and Power. To learn more about COR or get in touch with Mikayla, please check out www.catsonrockets.org!  – See more at: https://arrayofhope.net/strong-in-him/#sthash.pjzcqJSp.dpuf

Why Do We Give Up Things for Lent?

“What did you give up for Lent?” is a fairly common question asked during these forty days.

Unfortunately sometimes people can become trapped in one of two thought processes in their choices to “give something up.”

 

For some, Lent is the same every year.

“I give up chocolate because that’s what I always do,” or “I will go to Stations of the Cross each Friday at church.”  While these sacrifices are good and I am in no position to judge an individual’s intentions, there may be something lacking in repeating the same thing each year.

 

For others, some try to “outdo” last year’s sacrifice. 

For instance, one year I gave up all types of drinks other than water, the following year I fasted every single Friday, the next year I gave up meat.  For me, I took the sacrifice a little too far.  Not only was it extremely difficult to follow through with the sacrifice, it made me bitter and unpleasant at times, causing others around me to have to make the sacrifice of dealing with my attitude.

 

Neither of these approaches call to mind to true purpose of the season of Lent.

The first doesn’t challenge the individual enough to step outside his or her comfort zone.  The second puts the individual’s focus solely on the act itself and the degree of difficulty.
In fact, just the other day, I was asked, “What did you give up this year; you are usually pretty intense…” I was a bit taken back by that and thought to myself,

 

What are you trying to prove?

Have I been trying to prove something myself, to others, or to God by what I give up? While I questioned my intention for this year’s sacrifice, I ultimately came to the realization that I focused on something that was becoming a vice in my life—coffee.  In the months leading up to Lent, I realized that I was becoming more tired and more reliant on that boost of caffeine that comes with a cup (or 6) of coffee a day. Therefore, my intention was not to “wow” God but to rather have Him “wow” me.  By detaching myself from something different, I challenge myself to break free of a certain human desire.

 

The purpose of Lenten sacrifices

Lent is not meant to be a personal diet plan or a way to show off how much one loves Jesus through his or her sacrifice. The fasting and abstinence that we partake in are meant to draw us deeper into a relationship with the Lord by undergoing some form of sacrifice, some form of suffering.  Our intentions for choosing a sacrifice must be rooted in that truth.  After all, sacrifice and suffering connect us to the One who sacrificed and suffered all for us.

 

 

Matthew Higgins is the Assistant to the Vocations Director for the Archdiocese of Newark. He received his Master’s degree in Systematic Theology from Immaculate Conception Seminary at Seton Hall University. His 10+ year ministry experience includes Junior High Faith Formation & Youth Ministry, Young Adult Ministry, and Campus Ministry. He has also spoken at various youth retreats, parish events, and conferences for college/graduate students at both Catholic and secular institutions. Above all, Matthew is proud to be a husband and father.