When you go on vacation, odds are, you have a plan. You plan a route, plan a place to stay, plan your budget, food, people you will visit, sites you will see…
When preparing for Lent, what’s in your plan of attack?
Lent isn’t something you should decide to do last minute, sitting in Mass on Ash Wednesday, saying you’ll give up something off the top of your head that you could manage to give up. Here and now, a couple weeks before Lent you should be discerning what the Lord is telling you to remove from your life so that He can come closer to you.
How Do I Discern?
The best way to discern is through prayer. But just showing up to prayer isn’t enough. You must listen and feel in that time of prayer. It is a simple as:
If you feel afraid, distress, fear, discouraged, etc. - it is NOT of the Lord.
If you feel encouraged, hopeful, peace, comfort, etc - it IS of the Lord
You have your five senses, but you also have your spiritual senses. The Lord will NEVER hurt you. Therefore, if you feel the Lord is calling you into something that has you afraid and discouraged, you know it is not from Heaven. You can say, “In the name of Jesus Christ, leave me and go to the foot of the cross for Him to deal with you as He wills.” Then ask the Holy Spirit to fill you with joy.
The Lord may call you to something like giving up something like gossip and you may be afraid that you won’t know what you’ll be able to talk about. This fear is different. You can know this because He will be asking you to give up a vice. He wouldn’t ask you, for example, to give up prayer and leave you in fear to see if you could do life without Him. He is always there and He will never leave you. Don’t ever let anyone tell you otherwise.
If you are still unclear about discernment, a great resource is to find a spiritual director. You can do this by calling your nearest church and asking who is available. A spiritual director will meet with you once a month (most are free but a small few ask for a small stipend) and help you strengthen your ability to discern.
What Comes After Discernment?
Once you’ve discerned what the Lord is calling you to do this Lent - be it giving up a vice, making your daily prayer more regular, taking on a weekly Holy Hour, etc - look for the resources out there. Check out what your church has available, look for local retreats in your area, or Google different journals, studies, or prayer guides. We have a Lenten Resource page here on our website. Click here to see Lent Resource page.
Choosing Your Lent
“This Lent I am going to give up my bed and sleep on the floor because I struggle to wake up in the morning for prayer. I’m also going to take only cold showers to remember to be humble, only eat bread and water because I need to lose some weight, go to adoration 3 hours a day, confession every hour, pray 5 rosaries, and…”
Whooah! Slow down. This time is not about taking on the most things, and suffering as much as possible. Look back on your discernment. The way to perfection is a lifelong journey and you will not get there in one Lent. The devil may also pump up your ego to take on too much during Lent so that, when you fail at one of your 50 commitments, you drop all of them our of discouragement. Or it all becomes about proving how much you can do while forgetting why you’re doing it. What did you receive in your discernment? Pray about what He is calling you to this Lent. Listen to your spiritual senses and go where there is peace.
There will be suffering, there may be pain, but you are not alone. He is walking right alongside of you and can’t wait for you to experience the most peaceful and fruitful Lent yet.