So What Are You Doing for Lent? Those of My Face Book Community Listed Many Activities

Lent 2016: Wed. Feb 10th – Thursday March 24th

We celebrate this season of grace in an extraordinary Jubilee year of Mercy. Mercy abounds for us. On Ash Wednesday we heard: Now is the acceptable time. Today is the day of salvation. We have yet another season to receive mercy. May we not receive the grace of God in vain.

So what are you doing for Lent? Those of my Face Book Community listed many activities from making the stations of the cross to reading to fasting and tithing to helping others to making more time for prayer. While all these are good things, remember they are not ends in themselves, but are for a purpose.

The original purpose of Lent was a retreat for the catechumens. Those are they who were preparing for Baptism. The Gospel the first Sunday of Lent is always Jesus’ “retreat” into the desert for 40 days. Now hundreds of millions of us, as the people of God retreat with the “elect” during these days. Retreats are times to seek God and confront issues and sins in our life. It is a time of encounter and transformation.

I live at Holy Name retreat center in Houston. People from all denominations and backgrounds come to “retreat” at our center. We have a saying, “The place where miracles occur.” May I dare you to have the audacity to “expect a miracle” this Lent?

That is the difference between a successful and significant Lent. A successful Lent has you doing ascetic practices and following the prescripts of Church obligations. A significant Lent will take the form of encounters with God and personal transformation. God knows what you need and will make it happen as you retreat in these days, one day at a time.

This season can be a turning point for you in your spiritual life. If you are caught in a bad habit, addiction or recurring sin, you can embrace new freedom. I want your Lent to be successful, but even more than that, significant.

Make these 40 days a retreat with God. By all means delve into the disciplines of Lent. Explore the daily readings. Open yourself in prayer. Do good works. But more than anything, seek God, confront your issues and expect a miracle!