We are called to give something up during Lent. ”Fish on Fridays.”

Jesus faced temptation in the desert. He didn’t give in when offered things many of us would have been tempted to accept. He prayed. A lot. Whenever Christ’s time on earth was difficult, we hear repeated stories about him going alone to pray. Often, he prayed at places where there would likely have been no easy distractions (such as in the desert). Good advice for us. As the saying goes, there can be no faith life without prayer.

If you haven’t given up something for Lent yet, now would be a good time to start (also, this would be a good time to start praying more if regular prayer isn’t part of your life).

What if there’s something we CAN’T give up? I’ve been in that situation. For several years in a row, I couldn’t give up sugar during Lent. At first, I came up with excuses (“Oh well, my prayer life is growing year-round anyway – I don’t have to limit my growth in faith to 40 days on a liturgical calendar…..”). Slowly, I became honest about the bottom line: I couldn’t give up sugar. I had to look at my earthly attachments – and how unhealthy attachments to things such as sugar negatively impact my life. Giving up something that’s hard to give up counts more than giving up something we don’t care about (such as an established vegetarian “giving up meat” during Lent).

We are called to not be so bound to anything in this life that we can’t give it up; rather, we must be willing – capable – of being attached only to God. “If anyone comes to Me and does not hate his own father, mother, wife, children, brothers, sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be My disciple.” (Luke 14:26). ”The one who loves his life loses it, and the one who hates his life in this world will keep it to eternal life” (John 12:25). 

If there’s something we can’t give up – such as an inordinate attachment to sugar, money, alcohol, sex, prestige, a cell phone – why? Underneath such attachments, we’re going to find some kind of emotional dis-ease. And, probably, negative consequences. God doesn’t want us to live with dis-ease and negative consequences. If we surrender to allowing God to turn us into the person God wants us to be, God will transform us from being the person we aren’t meant to be. Such surrender requires a willingness to be in relationship with God and to go wherever that leads – a commitment.

Allowing God to help us move beyond attachments that we aren’t capable of giving up also goes beyond being a self-help fix (if we’re just looking for help improving our own life, there’s more to being a person of faith than this!). Certainly, God loves us and wants us to be happy. In addition, however, a vibrant faith is about more than just God making us healthy. Ultimately, a vibrant faith is about “Love God and love your neighbor as yourself” (Matthew 22:34-40). As children of God, our first priority is a relationship with God – which we must be able to put before all else. Further…..when we become the people God meant for us to be, we are in a position to contribute to healthy families and vibrant communities.  

Kim Burkhardt blogs at A Parish Catechist and The Books of the Ages (and a member of the Association of Catholic Publishers). If you are a new visitor, it would be great to have you follow this blog (thank you!). If you know someone who would like this blog, please share it with them (thank you!). You can also support this blog by clicking here when you are going to shop on Amazon (that lands A Parish Catechist a commission on Amazon sales).