OOPS!! It is Lent

The blog this week is from the weekly note that I send to the parents of St. Pius X Catholic School.  Every week this note contains important dates, events, and a short note from me. 

I am not sure if I am the only one who feels that the Lenten season raced upon us from out of nowhere, but I cannot believe I am the only one…  We have had two days, Ash Wednesday and the first Friday to practice fasting and abstinence.  Only three days into it, and I have already screwed up.

Being out of school on Friday for “winter break,” is a first for me.  I cannot recollect any time, as a student or teacher, that I received an extended break in the winter, with the exception of the blizzard of 1978.  So this new concept had me racking my brain as to what I am going to do with the extra time.
 

I promised my wife that I would get up early and take our children to school.  This would allow her to go to her Indianapolis office straight from the house, without making stops.  Then I would come home, and accomplish any “honey-do” chores she would like me to complete.  And, being the planner that I am, I had my day scripted out to the letter/task.
 

Well as luck would have it, I was at the preverbal stopping point.  I had just moved a load of laundry from the washer to the dryer, completed said cleaning task, and was either ready to start the next task, or take a break for lunch.  As you can imagine, lunch prevailed.
 

As I proceeded to prepare my plate, I decided for a sandwich and chips, with a glass of iced tea, while watching a little of the Pebble Beach Pro Am Golf Tournament.   As I was watching the golf tournament, the camera operator decided to show a picture of the ocean, as they often do for this tournament.(side note: for those that do not watch golf, I suggest you watch this tournament some time, for you will see some of the most magnificent marine life) 
 

Let me set the scene, the camera angle was from the blimp, flying overhead.  It was a wide screen shot showing this incredibly large school of dolphins.  There were so many dolphins, that they could not fit on the screen.  This beautiful picture got me thinking of dolphins and those that sometimes get caught in tuna nets.  This led me to think of the fact that it had been a long time since I have had a homemade tuna sandwich.  This led me to recollect that every Friday in Lent, growing up, my mother always made tuna sandwiches.  It was then, on the second bite of my turkey sandwich, that it dawned on me that it was Friday and I should not be eating meat.
 

Well, it has been a whopping three days and I have already put my own thoughts before God.  My wife thinks it is rather funny, since I am the one constantly reminding her of the Friday Lent rules, especially since she is the one that packs our children’s lunches, that I have already failed in the abstinence portion of Lent.  I mean the ashes are barely off my head and I have forgotten my Lenten obligations.  It was immediately that I split the remaining turkey sandwich into two parts, one for each dog, all was upset with myself about my error.  I am usually better than this.
 

As my thoughts progressed, I was reminded of the reason for the season of Lent.  I am a sinner, and there is nothing I can do about that.  I will always be a sinner, for I will never be perfect.  God knew this and sent his only Son to die for our sins, so we may have the gift of the Sacraments and eternal life with Him. 
 

So instead of punishing myself too much, I choose to forgo the rest of my lunch and I used this fasting opportunity to think about God and all He has done for us.  Regardless of what I have decided to give up, or what rules I break, or what sins I commit, God will never deny me forgiveness, so long as I ask.  His Son died so we may receive forgiveness of all sins, even the smallest.

Fasting for 40 Days and the Gift That Came With It

Today, we celebrated the Ash Wednesday, the beginning of Lent.  For the next 40 days, Christians are asked to fast, to participate in Almsgiving, and generally use this time to remember the 40 days Jesus was in the desert and tempted by Satan.  What does that mean for us as Christians?

Over the next 40 days, we, as Christians, are asked to sacrifice something that is important to us.  Over the years, I have given up soda, chocolate, coffee, and one year I gave up drinking anything, with the exception of water.  I must say, drinking only water for 40 days was a pretty hard thing to do, but the task was completed.   That Easter, I went to midnight Mass, just so when I left, I could grab a Diet Coke on my way home. 

 

This was the hardest Lent fasting I had ever had.  Every time I drank water, I reveled in the thought of drinking a Diet Coke, an iced tea, a coffee, anything but water.  I planned my route home from church and picked out the corner store that I was going to go to and purchase anything to drink, other than water.  I even thought about packing a cooler, so I could return to my soda drinking ways, but I thought it would look bad to tailgate in the church parking lot, on Easter Sunday. 

Every day, I thought of nothing more than drinking anything but water, and as the days went on, 10, 20, 25, 30, I grew more anxious to drink anything.  To hydrate with a Diet Coke, or a cup of coffee, was almost to the forefront of every waking moment.  The closer it got to Easter, the more excited I got.  It was no different than a child waking up at five in the morning Christmas Day.

So it is Easter Eve… I have waited for this time, what seems like forever, but really was only the 40 days.  I spent all day looking at my watch, over and over, hoping time would go by quicker, so it would be Mass time.  I can assure you that this day was the earliest I had ever been to an Easter service, and not to save a seat, but in hopes that we could get this Mass started and over so I could retrieve what I told myself I could not have.  I have built up 40 days of craving anything other than water, and it is all about to come to an end.  That’s when God took over…

You see, when I left that Easter Mass, I did not tailgate in the parking lot.  I went home a different way, than I had mapped out.  My craving for a flavored drink was gone.  What happened??  Why did this all the sudden stop on Easter Sunday?  I could not believe what was happening to me. 

It was on my drive home that it dawned on me, every time I craved something other than water, I would spend some time talking with God.  Sometimes I would ask Him for help through the craving, sometimes I would shout at Him, in anger, and sometimes I reminded Him that I was doing this for Him, the least He could do is help me out.  Giving up something for God, and not wanting to disappoint Him, was the reason I resisted every temptation.  It was exactly the plan He had in mind for me.  I got closer to Him, through prayer, which at the time, was a weakness in my faith. 

Now when times get tough, I often will drink water, just to remind myself to have that conversation with God.  Sometimes, when I drink water, just because, I thank God for the wonderful gifts he has given me.  Something as simple as a glass of water, is one of the most important parts of my prayer life.  That 40 day fast, five or six years ago, has affected me to this day.  I did not just give something up, as I still drink flavored drinks.  I allowed the fasting to get me closer to God, it changed me.  So as you are fasting this Lent, be open to God and His plans for you.