Journaling

Make it BIG this Lent – starting with sacrifice!

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Make it BIG this Lent - starting with sacrifice!
Make it BIG this Lent!
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!

Keep your head down, take one step at a time

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keep your head down, take one step at a time
Hills and Valleys

Keep your head down

“Keep your head down, take one step at a time,” is what I found myself thinking and telling one of my companions on the Camino de Santiago. During the coronavirus pandemic, I’m feeling called to continue writing about my Camino and the lessons learned. As I shelter in place, I think about how I’m being called. I wonder what the life-altering lessons are. I wonder how I will be forever changed. As I pondered all these things, I thought to myself, “I’ve been here before.” Indeed, it was just a year ago that I was asking myself these same questions. So, now is the perfect time to get back to my Camino journal to continue to elaborate on the lessons learned last year. I’m pretty sure, the lessons can be applied to this current communal journey we’re on. So here it goes.

Two days into our trip and the first day of actual hiking we tackled the Pyrenees. We had a feeling it was going to be difficult. Included in our preparation was reading posts, books and websites about the Camino. We consulted with our parish priest who had completed the journey just a year before. All I can say is you will never be truly prepared for what you will encounter while climbing the Pyrenees mountains. You will never know until you attempt it yourself. My descriptions can’t even come close to what it was like.

Take one step at a time

Imagine walking in a straight line vertically! THAT’S what it felt like. There was no plateau, no flattening, no reprieve, just constant uphill walking for almost 5 miles. Each time I looked ahead, I felt discouraged and wondered how the heck I could keep on going. As the days continued, we would encounter some really steep inclines up and down. Somedays, the incline came at the end of a very long hike.

After the first few days, I decided I couldn’t keep looking up the hill to see where I was heading. I had to keep my eyes focused on where I was planting my feet. I decided to focus on every small step forward. One step at a time. I could DO that! So as I continued on the Camino, the moment I noticed I was coming to a steep incline upward, I would immediately look down at my feet and simply focus on the next step.

Focus on the present

Then it occurred to me! The lesson became clear. In life we will all experience hills and valleys. Sometimes those hills seem insurmountable. We go from start to finish in our minds and wonder how we’re going to make it. It seems like a long road because of our approach. We run from the present to the future. If this Camino taught me anything, it taught me that I can get through the steepest hills if I stay focused on the present.

Hills and valleys will no doubt find their way into our lives but we CAN scale those mountains. We just have to change our perception and approach to the hill. There is no way around it – the only way is through, one small step at a time!

Remembering this lesson has helped me cope with this pandemic. One day at a time. I can’t focus on “what ifs” – I can only focus on what IS. I can’t grumble at the fact that I can’t socialize like I used to or be as carefree as I used to. But I can focus on the fact that today I am healthy, praise be to God. I can embrace the solitude and silence. It’s here to teach me something! Our God is so awesome, He’s given many of us an opportunity to retreat for an extended period of time without feeling guilty. Can we settle down and hear His voice?

We win

I’m taking this opportunity to ponder the lessons of this current time and the correlations between this time and other times in our history – our salvation history! I trust that we will be triumphant yet again! Thanks be to God!

God bless you!