Is it time to change your mind about Lent?

by Father Mark Goldasich

Well, here we go again. Ready or not! I’m talking, of course, about the annual 40-day retreat called Lent.

It’s said that most people making resolutions for the new year abandon them by the middle of January and drift back into their old ways. I suspect the same is true with many Lenten resolutions. When we find ourselves unable (or unwilling) to keep them perfectly, we give them up altogether, thinking, “Just wait till next Lent! I’ll do much better then.”

If that attitude describes you, then ponder the following reflection on the Titanic for some cautionary advice:

In its day, the Titanic was the world’s largest ship, weighing 456,328 tons. It was 882½-feet long and had three anchors weighing more than 10 tons each. It employed a crew of 400 and a hotel staff of 518 and could carry 2,433 passengers. The ship had a complete gymnasium, heated pool and squash court — all below deck. It boasted opulent dining rooms with 24-hour service, palm courts and Turkish baths. Several men and women from the society pages were on its passenger list.

Late during the night of April 14-15, 1912, the “unthinkable” happened to the “unsinkable.” Near midnight, the great Titanic struck an iceberg, ripping a 300-foot hole through five of its 16 watertight compartments. It sank in 2½ hours, killing over 1,500 people.

Before the Titanic sank, warning after warning had been sent to tell the crew that they were speeding into an ice field, but the messages were ignored. In fact, it’s said that when a nearby ship sent an urgent warning, the Titanic was talking to Cape Race about the time chauffeurs were to meet arriving passengers at the dock in New York, and what dinner menus were to be ready.

Preoccupied with trivia, the Titanic responded to the warning, “Shut up. I am talking to Cape Race. You are jamming my signals.”

Why did so many die? The crew disregarded the possible danger of the weather; there were not enough lifeboats on board; and the radio operator of the nearby ship California was off duty. (Story found in Father Brian Cavanaugh’s “Sower’s Seeds of Encouragement: Fifth Planting.”)

Not to be overly dramatic, but how many more Lents will we have? How many more times will we ignore the “warnings” of Scripture to repent? The call of Lent to change our lives is not meant to make us miserable, but to reveal to us how much better — holier — we can be when we focus on letting God’s grace transform our day-to-day lives.

A wonderful Lenten discipline is to give up something for Lent. (I’m going to refrain from buying anything new, especially from Amazon. This is surprisingly hard for me!) But it’s also valuable to do some positive actions. Here are a few that you might like to try, either just one time, once a week during Lent or more often if you’re moved to:

• Unplug from your screens for a couple of hours.

• Bring some canned goods or nonperishable items to a favorite charity.

• Attend a daily Mass or one Stations of the Cross devotion.

• Sit with someone you don’t know at a parish fish fry.

• Let someone ahead of you in traffic or in the line at the store.

• Get to Mass 15 minutes early and use the time to reflect on the readings.

• Surprise a lonely person with an email, card, phone call or visit.

• Don’t hit the snooze button but get up and pray instead.

“Nothing great is ever achieved without much enduring,” said St. Catherine of Siena. This Lent, let’s heed the “warnings” and endure to the end . . . and arrive whole and holier at Easter.