What if Lent was more about love and less about extremes?
Years ago, in a podcast or a video (I forget which), Fr. Mike Schmitz once made the purpose of Lent crystal clear: whatever we give up, whatever we add, if we don’t know and love Jesus more than ever before on Easter morning, our Lent has missed the mark.
As a recovering adherent to the philosophy “I must do the most extreme thing for Lent so that I can prove my spiritual acumen,” this focus for Lent has been a gamechanger. Even though I’ve used it for years to test my inclinations when Lent rolls around, I must admit that even this year I wanted to do something really extreme.
I thought about doing the Whole 30—except for 40 days instead of 30.
I thought about doing something really intense fitness-wise, which would surely be really hard, and to offer up the difficulty to Jesus.
I thought about giving away a lot of money (which I don’t have, by the way, so this would obviously be hard, too).
But instead, as I prayed last week, I heard that still, small voice say, “Lean into my love for you.”
And I knew then: this year, Lent is all about Love.
So I will give up Netflix in order to give myself time to do more of the things I really love, so that I can more clearly hear the voice of the Holy Spirit as I craft, create, walk, read, pray, etc.
I will pray through the Gospel of Mark, so that I can become reacquainted with the One who is Love.
And for the almsgiving piece, I will use my heart and my talents to give love to those people in my life who may need an extra dose of encouragement.
What are you doing for Lent? How does the goal of knowing and loving Jesus more on Easter morning refine your goals for Lent?
