The Beginning of Lent

It's hard to believe, but Lent begins next week Wednesday, February 10! With Easter falling on one of the earliest dates it can (it won't fall on an earlier date until 2035), our Lenten preparations likewise begin sooner than we might expect. This inevitably raises the age-old question, "what are you giving up for Lent?"
    
Last year, Pope Francis surprised many in the western world by suggesting that rather than give up any one item for the season, Christians should reconsider the heart of fasting in its entirety. Looking to the early Church Father John Chrysostom who said, "no act of virtue can be great if it is not followed by advantage for others..." Pope Francis appealed to Christians to give up indifference to our neighbor and to God.
    
At first glance, it might not sound like that radical of an idea, however, for many the outward notion of giving up indifference to our neighbor turns the discipline of fasting on its head. After all, to fast from chocolate is to hide it away and resist purchasing it at the grocery store. It means staying firm in saying "no" when a friend or co-worker offers us a piece. While fasting from indifference to God and our neighbor is entirely the opposite. It means repeatedly saying "yes" and embracing others when our thoughts say, "I don't have time for this" or "I don't want to do that." Rather than barring the gates, it challenges us to "fling wide the door" to our lives and receive the worries, hurts - the needs of others before our own.
       
As you consider your Lenten discipline(s), I invite you to begin with the questions, "why am I doing this?" "Is it for me? For others? For both?" Giving up an "over-indulged upon" part of our lives may be just what's needed. However, it's also possible that in considering the heart of our Lenten fasting, our hearts may be opened in new and exciting ways to the love of our God who opened Himself up to death itself for the sake of the world!
      
May God bless us all through these forty days wherever our journeys take us.
     
Grace and Peace,
Pr. Erik