I'm a bit late posting this month, as it appears that the Lord had other plans for my Lenten Penance, and that is for me to deal with electronics issues from computers to phones. Electronics has widened our world and expanded our reach, and is making it nearly impossible to have any peace and quiet time.
Lent is celebrated by many denominations in honor of the 40 days Jesus spent in the desert before beginning his ministry leading to his Passion. It was a time for purification, prayer, fasting, and resisting temptation. Jesus was our best and most excellent example of how we should behave; he prayed, he shared and taught the word of God to others through the scriptures and his actions, he loved and blessed the children, the infirm, the poor, and the tormented.
1 Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the desert to be
tempted by the devil.
2 He fasted for forty days and forty nights, and afterwards
he was hungry.
3 The tempter approached and said
to him, “If you are the Son of God, command that these stones become loaves of
bread.”
4 He said in reply, “It is written:
One does not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes forth
from the mouth of God.’”
5 Then the devil took him to the
holy city, and made him stand on the parapet of the temple, (6) and said to
him, “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down. For it is written: ‘He
will command his angels concerning you’and ‘with their hands they will support
you, lest you dash your foot against a stone.’”
7 Jesus answered him, “Again it is
written, ‘You shall not put the Lord, your God, to the test.’”
8 Then the devil took him up to a
very high mountain, and showed him all the kingdoms of the world in their
magnificence, (9) and he said to him, “All these I shall give to you, if
you will prostrate yourself and worship me.”
10 At this, Jesus said to him, “Get away, Satan! It is written: ‘The Lord, your God, shall you
worship and him alone shall you serve.’”
Today, most Catholics begin thinking of what they will give up during Lent, beginning on Ash Wednesday and continuing through Holy Week until Easter. Many give up luxuries like sweets, candy, cake, ice cream, etc. Some give up smoking, and like one woman I know, light up again on Easter Sunday. Some give up doing things they enjoy like eating out, or movies. And more recently, because of our "WWW."lifestyles, some have started giving up Facebook, or other social media, television, or cellphones.
But what good are you doing for yourself, giving up these trivial things, if you go right back to them on Easter? Things like smoking especially? If you can quit for forty days, why not quit completely?
How about giving up your time spent on television or movies, and spend it instead in prayer? Or perhaps reading a good Catholic book? Or, listen to inspiring talks on faith and scripture? Or going to daily Mass? Or saying a rosary every day? Forty days is a good length of time to develop a new habit that can help you become a "better version of yourself", as Matthew Kelly says.
It is hard, sometimes you may choose something that turns out to be difficult to achieve, but don't beat yourself up if you don't manage to do it every day. Just start again the next day and keep trying! The Lord sees your honest efforts, and you are still blessed for trying.
Blessings,
The Catholic Lady©
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