It is Ash Wednesday and thus begins the 2020 season of Lent. I was listening to a podcast today by Father John Riccardo about how to align yourself during this season. He asked some questions to start the process of self examination and intentional mindfulness.
Why does Lent exist?
Lent exists to accelerate the process of becoming a new creation [2 Corinthians 5:17].
How do we behave in Lent?
Don’t be a Pharisee. Don’t be so focused on the externals [what you are giving up, abstaining from, etc.] The externals are easy. But they are meant to be a means to transform the internals. Don’t worry about what the outside looks like. If the inside is not getting transformed, it’s useless. Go the distance. We all struggle during this season. You can do this!
What do we do in Lent?
Prayer. Fasting. Alms Giving. Typically we focus on these three areas to work on the the answer to the first question — becoming a new creation. But consider: What is your prayer going to look like? What are you going to fast from? To whom are you going to give alms? Be intentional.
How will we succeed in Lent?
These are the strategic anchors that keep us inside the lines, as it were. Identify the sins, dysfunctions, addictions, and the source of our broken hearts. Admit our own powerlessness to be able to change any of that. Invite Jesus in to our heart and life in a more profound way so as to bring healing in all those areas as he exposes them.
What is most important this Lent?
To restore lost innocence. To recover the original innocence that we all had that was lost or wounded [often as children] and we spend most of our lives covering it up with narcissism, selfishness, sins, addictions… creating false narratives of ourselves. The hope is for God to restore that lost innocence.
What must I do?
Spending more deliberate time in prayer is significant and a key aspect.
“The goal is recreation! Remember that Easter, which is what we are leaning toward, is the beginning of the recreation of the universe. That’s what the resurrection is all about! We are agents in God’s hands to bring about that recreation. That will happen more fully to the degree that I am recreated. What’s the one thing that is keeping you from being the man you want to be? What is the biggest obstacle in my life to holiness? Or, to being recreated? Focus in on that. Skip the external stuff. Otherwise it just becomes a self-control game which becomes more me-focused. So the problem is just that… me!
God can recreate me. I can be remade. I cant remake myself, but HE can remake me. That’s what Easter is about. That is what the Spirit is given to us for –– Him recreating us and then us leading others in that same recreation so we can become the people that God made us to be.”
Notes from Father John Riccardo’s Podcast on February 25, 2020