When Lent rolls around each year, many Catholics panic to find a “good” Lenten sacrifice.
How often has giving up chocolate or ice cream been your first thought when you consider this liturgical season?
In moments of indecision, we often fall back on past sacrifices or the first idea that comes to mind—usually sweets, soda, or late-night snacks. Others may resolve to “give up” a bad habit or sin they struggle with, such as swearing, excessive drinking, or watching too much TV.
These are all valid sacrifices, and sacrifice is indeed a key part of Lent. However, if we choose them without real intentionality, they can feel arbitrary. When we don’t connect our physical sacrifices to our spiritual lives, we miss the true purpose of Lent: to unite our suffering with Christ’s and grow closer to Him.
Joseph Shaw of Catholic Answers writes, “The imperatives of Lent in particular, and of the Christian life in general, are the eminent good works of prayer, penance, and almsgiving. These really are good works—works that earn us merit. These works will cancel out temporal punishment we would otherwise suffer in purgatory, and add to our glory in heaven, and we can offer them for the good of the holy souls in purgatory and for the conversion of sinners. Good works in this sense are possible only if we are in a state of grace (sanctifying grace), and they will themselves be done in and through God’s assisting grace (actual grace). When we do them, we may say with St. Paul, it is not we who do them, but God who does them through us (Phil. 2:13). They are in fact a gift of God to us—but when God gives us something, we really do possess it.”
Lent is about more than just giving up chocolate. It’s about preparing our souls for Easter through penitence, good works, and prayer.
One way to work prayer and daily reflection into your Lenten season is to take up spiritual reading. If you want to go deeper in your faith this Lent and to choose a Lenten resolution that will help you do so, we highly recommend these titles to help you on your journey: On Retreat with St. Josemaria Escriva, Nine Days to Strengthen Your Faith, and Nine Days to Rediscover the Joy of Prayer.
