The Best-Laid Plans

The best-laid plans of mice and men often go awry. We layout the best plans for our Lenten journey. We seek to approach Easter having undergone a well thought out and executed routine of prayer, fasting, and almsgiving.

If you are like me, this does not always go as planned. In fact, you may have completely fallen off of your well-laid plans and think your Lent is over. What if you only have a week left? What if you have a month left? What if it is literally the day after Ash Wednesday? What happens when Lent goes wrong?

First of all, we have to get this phrase out of our vocabulary. Lent cannot go wrong. Lent is there as a gift from God to restore harmony within our souls. It can also establish peace and harmony in our soul if it was lacking to begin with.

Our Lenten penances are built upon prayer, fasting, and almsgiving. It is important to discern how to exercise these during Lent (and beyond), but it is never too late during Lent to add or subtract practices. First, we need to examine why we are doing these penances.

Why Do We Do Penances?

Lenten practices heighten our awareness of God and allow God’s grace to penetrate our heights and minds more readily. So, it is important to be consistent. This is where most folks fall off the plan and stay off the plan. If we waver in our Lenten practices, there are three options: abandon course, alter course, or get back on course.

Three Options – Abandon, Alter, Acknowledge

Abandoning course is not an option for the Christian. No matter how difficult like gets and no matter how much we are suffering, Christ is there to share the burden. He does not tell us, “Be complacent and you will be happy.” Instead, He tells us to take up our cross, follow Him, and live the radical life of the Beatitudes.

We can alter course slightly. We can perhaps work on only a few disciples and try to really commit to them before adding more. The spirit is often willing, but the flesh is weak. This is not an excuse to stop pressing on. Instead, it is the realization that we should challenge ourselves, but we should do so by entering by the narrow stream taking one step at a time, rather than diving headlong into the ocean.

The third option is actually the first one to try. We must acknowledge where we have not lived up to our commitments. Instead of letting this define our Lent or cause us to despair, we simply get back on course. We ask God for the grace to begin again.

The Welcome at Every Start

Proverbs 24:16 says this: “… for a righteous man falls seven times, and rises again; but the wicked are overthrown by calamity (Proverbs 24:16).” This very wise teaching tells us that the Christian life is a long-distance run, not a short sprint. We may fall several times (read: thousands of times), but we are always invited by God’s grace to get back up and try again.

There is a beautiful line in the Mumford and Sons song “Roll Away Your Stone” that encapsulates this reality. I think it also works well for a spiritual reminder during Lent and for our entire lives, really. The line goes like this: “It’s not the long walk home that will change this heart, but the welcome I receive with every start.”

It is inevitable that we will fall. It is part of our fallen human nature to be inclined to sin, to be weaker than we want to be, and to fail. However, God never fails. He never fails in extending His hand to lift us back up and get us back on course. Never be discouraged if you are clinging to God. And if you are distracted for a time, then simply allow God’s grace to give you a renewed focus.

Lent Resources

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  4 Lessons I Learned In Seminary That Help Me In Marriage
  Four years ago, my future seemed clear to me. I thought I’d spend my days living in small-town Minnesota and ministering to country parishes as their priest. I love my home state, and I love the people there very much, but God had other plans.   After leaving seminary, I struggled to know what God wanted […]
• 3 Catholic Films Coming To Theaters For A Limited Time
  In the entertainment industry, Fathom Events helps lesser-known film projects get their day on the big screen.  Fathom rents out theaters throughout the country for a few days as a limited-release project.  It’s how The Chosen film events have been distributed in the theaters.  Last year the hit documentary St. Michael: Meet the Angel or the Mother Teresa documentary No […]
• 
  Catholic Music Spotlight: Taylor Tripodi Music
  “Christian Singer-Songwriter bringing hope to broken and weary souls.” That’s how Taylor Tripodi’s website describes her, and it is certainly true. One listen to her music, and your soul will be consoled with the gentle, moving music and her equally strong but soothing voice. Talent and mission is why her “Stand in Awe” has over […]
• 
  The Pale Blue Eye: A Light In The Darkness
  The boundaries which divide Life from Death are at best shadowy and vague. Who shall say where the one ends, and where the other begins?  – Edgar Allan Poe The film, The Pale Blue Eye, opens with this line from the famous poet, Edgar Allan Poe. It is a fictional story of Augustine Landor, a retired […]
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  4 Reasons To Wear The Cord Of St. Joseph
  The cord of St. Joseph is a powerful devotion that grants special graces to those who wear it with faith. These graces will help you grow in your spiritual life. Delving deeper into the tradition of the cord of St. Joseph can lead to a greater understanding and appreciation of the beauty and richness of […]

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