Florida Catholic | Archbishop Favalora's Column

Time to make some Lenten resolutions

Published: 02.08.08

My dear friends,

Lent is a time of spiritual discipline to help us prepare for the celebration of Our Lord’s death and resurrection. But Lent is not just about meatless Fridays and fasting on Ash Wednesday and Good Friday. Lent also should be about learning more about our faith and doing more to live it out each day.

During Lent, children in Catholic schools are encouraged to take part in the Operation Rice Bowl campaign, where they give up a portion of their allowance, or the money they would spend on dessert one day, to help the poor in other countries.

This type of Lenten discipline should not be limited to children. There are many things adults can do to reawaken and deepen their faith during this holy season. Here are a few Lenten resolutions Catholics in the archdiocese might want to consider:

• If you go to Mass only occasionally, try to go to Mass every Sunday.

• If you go to Mass only on Sundays, try to go to Mass more often, perhaps even daily. It is a venerable tradition in the church to go to Mass every day in Lent.

• Go to confession. Whether it’s been three months or three years or longer, a frequent examination of conscience is vital to a healthy faith. We need to recognize that we are sinners before we can appreciate the saving mercy of Jesus on the cross. Confession is good for the soul and for our total well-being.

• If you do not pray every day, resolve to do so. You can pray when you wake up, while sitting in traffic on the way to and from work, or before you go to sleep. Radio Peace (1040 AM) airs the daily Mass at 5 p.m. and the rosary at 5:30 p.m. every weekday.

Prayer need not be complicated or lengthy. It can be as simple as saying a silent “thank you” to God for the promise of another day or taking a moment to reflect on the day that just ended. How did God touch your life today? What good things or people did he send your way? That, too, is a good discipline to practice during Lent: being aware of God’s presence in our lives, every single day.

• If you do not pray as a family, resolve to do so. Say grace before dinner or the rosary before bedtime, or read the daily Scriptures together before retiring for the night.

• If you do not sit down to dinner as a family every night — because of late hours at work, conflicting schedules or commitments — try to do so at least once a week. As I tell people at confirmation, make sure all electronic devices are turned off when you sit down to eat. Televisions, iPods, hand-held video games, cell phones, CD and DVD players have no place at the dinner table, when family members should be having conversation and relating to one another.

• Read one book on spirituality during Lent, or resolve to read all four Gospels and the Acts of the Apostles during Lent, or make it a point to browse through the Catholic Catechism each day. If you don’t own a copy, buy it or view the entire catechism online at the U.S. bishops’ Web site, www.usccb.org. This discipline of reading is both uplifting and enlightening for our faith. (Muslims must read the Quran from beginning to end during their holy month of Ramadan.)

• Make it a point to do one good deed each week of Lent: Donate a certain amount to a specific charity, go feed the homeless one weekend, visit a sick person, help someone move, or give someone a ride to church or work. The variety of good deeds is endless as long as we keep our eyes and hearts open to others and the Lord.

• Attend a Lenten mission. Plenty of them are listed in the Around the Archdiocese page in every edition of the Florida Catholic, as well as on the archdiocesan Web site, www.miamiarch.org, under Things to Do. Most of them are in the evenings and do not require you to leave your home and family for any number of days. But if you have time to make a weekend or weeklong retreat at one of our south Florida retreat houses, by all means do so.

I pray that you and your families will grow in faith and closer to the Lord throughout this holy season.

Time to make some Lenten resolutions

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