On Lent and Being Part of Something Bigger

Yesterday was Ash Wednesday.  The first day of Lent and 40 days until Easter.  For many Catholics it's a big deal.  I love Lent and follow the traditions and guidelines set forth by the Church.  Let me first say that under no circumstances do I think that walking around with the absolute biggest cross of ashes I have ever received (Fr. Russ was on a roll with making sure they were visible!)  makes me a saint or any better than anyone else.  I do not eat meat on Ash Wednesday or any Lenten Friday.  Again, I don't think anyone is getting a ticket to hell if they have a burger on any of those days.  And I don't think it makes me any better than anyone else.  And really, there are so many days of the year I don't eat meat that it would almost be deliberate if I did eat meat.  Now the fasting on Ash Wednesday and Good Friday is a completely different story and is REALLY tough for me!!!

My husband and I observe the Lenten traditions and strongly encourage our children to observe them.  I think we need traditions and rituals to help us journey through this thing we call life.  I think we need time that is specifically set aside to focus on our God and our relationship with him.  I try to focus on my relationship with Him.  I am part of a bible study.  I read and pray and learn and try to grow.  I like learning what family and friends are doing to grow spiritually.  But taking these weeks before Jesus' passion to remember the ultimate sacrifice and then sacrifice something in my life to make me more aware of how I need my God in my life. It's not really about ashes or fish or giving up chocolate but it's about reminding ourselves daily that God gave all for us and trying in some tiny way to remember to live a life that more closely resembles the life we want to live or the life that Jesus lived while He was here.  So while I know people who think giving up meat on Friday is ridiculous, I say nothing is ridiculous if it makes you think of the sacrifice done for you and appreciate it just a little bit more.  Most parents I know appreciate their own parents even more after a sleepless night, a round of the flu, or writing a check for a prom dress or wrestling camp.  The same is true here, a little sacrifice on our part can help us appreciate the sacrifice God made for us.  That is the idea behind Lent.  Looking at our mortality, our weaknesses and our dependency are uncomfortable.  As a society we don't like to do that so I think that's why Lent can be so uncomfortable.

As I prayed before mass yesterday with my lifelong friend (really she's my twin sister so it is as lifelong as it gets!) kneeling next to me, I realized once again that one of the things I love about being Catholic is being part of something bigger than me.  I was doing the same thing that my mom did on Ash Wednesday for 78 years and that my dad has been doing for 83 years.  My grandparents before them. My great grandparents before them.  And back hundreds of years on this continent, in Europe, and in Ireland. It's comforting to me to be a part of something so long term. I feel closer to the people I have loved and have gone on to heaven before me.  During mass, I feel in a special way that I am once again doing something with those people and I love that.  Now not one of those people that I knew (so I am assuming the people who raised them were similar) ever agreed with every single thing a priest or bishop said or did.  I'd throw some popes into that list, too.  But the Church itself, the sacraments, the real presence in the Eucharist, those are things I treasure and cling to.  And things I treasure are worth staying a part of and making better and making sure they are there to pass on to the next generation.  And so I observe our traditions and I appreciate that the meaning is way deeper than meat, fish or ashes.