Ash Wednesday is tomorrow! The preparations we make now will make all the difference on whether it will be a good one or a mediocre one. As you can hear from the recording, The text below is prefaced by a short discourse on being holy and being perfect, then I pick it up from there.
One of the reasons so many of us continue to live here in Alaska is that the wilderness is right outside our back door. Summer or winter, we pride ourselves on being intrepid adventurers who can hunt, hike, fish, ski, snow machine, and mountain bike just about anywhere in any conditions. As the saying goes, “There is no such thing as bad weather, just bad gear!” We also know that the Alaskan wilderness can be a pretty unforgiving place. Thus, the need to prepare well before we head off into the wilderness. Good preparation makes the difference in keeping a minor mishap from becoming a survival situation. Bottom line, if you want the wilderness to be a good experience, be prepared.
The same holds true in preparing for Lent. Just as none of us would dream of going into the Alaskan wilderness unprepared, so we need to start preparing now to enter the spiritual journey wilderness of Lent.
I suggest you organize your spiritual gear list in three categories:
1) MIND—God gave you a brain and an intellect. Lent is a marvelous time to learn more about the faith. Is there a particular theological or spiritual book you’ve been meaning to get to? What about viewing a mini-course on www.FORMED.org? Simply sign up and sign in as a St. Pat’s parishioner and 2000 years of the Church’s intellectual tradition is available to you in half-hour videos…absolutely FREE. In short, what are you filling your mind with? Lent is a great excuse to make positive changes.
2) BODY—decide now how you will discipline your body. The fasting and abstinence laws of the Church are a pretty low bar. Will you exercise more? Change your diet? Abstain from foods that are not healthy? Will you be more disciplined in your sleep habits? As Paul says, the body is a temple of the Holy Spirit. Embracing days of prayer and fasting can really give your prayers teeth. The two are inextricable. Take the money you would have spent on whatever you give up and give that to the poor. Remember, fasting without almsgiving is simply called a “diet.”
[Or you could be like that one fellow who walked into a pub in Dublin…Oh, that’s me! I gave up Guiness for Lent.
3) SPIRIT—how you will develop your spiritual gifts this Lent? What adjustments will you make in your prayer life as an individual and as a household? Lent is a great time to re-instate family prayer time. (I suggest something simple at the end of dinner while you are all still gathered.) Lent is the perfect time to start a new habit of prayer. Don’t forget what I say about getting in your ten minutes! Maybe you just want to start working your way through the Gospel of Matthew, a little at a time each day. How will your prayer be different this Lent?
How we prepare for this Lent will make all the difference in our ability to enter into the sacred mysteries of Christ’s passion, death and resurrection at Easter. There is no such thing as a bad weather, just bad gear. There is no such thing as a bad Lent, just poor preparation.