WHY SACRIFICE?
“Make it BIG this Lent – starting with sacrifice” came to me this morning as I contemplated what I REALLY wanted to do and get out of this Lenten season. Truth be told, lately I’ve been feeling like Lenten sacrifices are just like New Year’s resolutions – impossible to keep. We start off with good intentions and then………I’ve long given up on trying to come up with and stick to a New Year’s resolution and I find myself giving up on “giving up” for Lent.
I rationalize my thoughts by vowing to do more spiritual reading and doing something different to draw closer to God. I’ll attend mass more, read more Scripture, do a Holy Hour, pray the rosary. You get the idea! While all those things are great and will help me grow closer to God, in prayer this morning the purpose of the sacrifice became clearer.
PERFECT OPPORTUNITY
Of course, Lent is the perfect season to draw and grow closer to God. It’s a perfect opportunity for us to develop a deeper, more intimate relationship with a loving Father who desires nothing more than for us to depend on Him. We CAN grow in intimacy by reading and praying more but what I realized this morning is we can also grow in intimacy by giving up chocolate or social media or the countless other things we tend to “give up” during Lent!
We can do it by humbly recognizing that we can’t do it alone. By understanding that we can’t stick with the plan without the help of the Lord! By turning to Him each time we’re tempted to give up! In this way, we grow in relationship, we begin to trust more and we begin to understand how this relationship is supposed to work! We stumble, we call, He helps! The more we call, the more He helps, the more we trust! Trust = intimacy!
YOU’RE NEVER ALONE
Scripture tells us nothing is impossible for God and that apart from Him we can do nothing! So this Lent, make it big – your sacrifice, your prayer, your desire! Go for the gusto knowing you will never be able to follow through but for the grace of God! Plan something spectacular knowing it’s going to take much prayer and dependence on God! This way, after your Lenten pilgrimage, your relationship with the Father, Son and Holy Spirit will have blossomed into something more intimate than simple acquaintance. BIG SACRIFICE LEADS TO BIG GROWTH!
RECOMMENDED
P.S: I’m doing another book by Fr. Mark Toups for Lent similar to the Rejoice Series I’ve been doing for Advent these past few years (simple yet powerful!) I would highly recommend it. Here’s a video by Fr. Mark which touches on being bold with our intention this Lent. I hope you join us! God bless you!
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