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
- Maybe You Shouldn’t Go To Daily Mass Or Pray The Rosary Every Day
Facebook Pinterest Gmail LinkedIn Print Friendly Maybe you shouldn’t be going to daily Mass or praying the Rosary every day. They are both very good things. But one of the mistakes we can make in the spiritual life is to move too quickly from “this is a good thing to do” to “therefore, I should… Read more: Maybe You Shouldn’t Go To Daily Mass Or Pray The Rosary Every Day - 3 Devotions Every Catholic Child Should Know
Facebook Pinterest Gmail LinkedIn Print Friendly One of the greatest gifts parents can give their children is not simply knowledge of the Catholic Faith but a love for living it. While children should certainly learn the Creed, the Commandments, and the sacraments, they should also be introduced to the rich devotional life of the Church.… Read more: 3 Devotions Every Catholic Child Should Know - As We Forgive Our Debtors | Gospel Reflection Matthew 18:21-35
Facebook Pinterest Gmail LinkedIn Print Friendly Twenty-Fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year A Gospel Reflection In this Sunday’s Gospel (Mt 18:21-35), we learn that when others sin against us—when they do something that offends, angers or hurts us, it is as though they have incurred a debt with us that must be paid. Forgiveness is… Read more: As We Forgive Our Debtors | Gospel Reflection Matthew 18:21-35 - What This Priest Liked And Didn’t Like About The New Movie The Uprising
Facebook Pinterest Gmail LinkedIn Print Friendly Anglophiles and history lovers will be thrilled by a new movie coming to theaters September 11, 2026: The Uprising, starring Andrew Garfield. The movie portrays the Peasants’ Revolt of 1381 in England. The story of Robin Hood has its roots in the revolt, and in America, a marketing controversy has… Read more: What This Priest Liked And Didn’t Like About The New Movie The Uprising - 5 Lesser-Known Titles For Mary (And why she has so many titles anyway)
Facebook Pinterest Gmail LinkedIn Print Friendly Have your kids ever asked why Mary has so many titles? Or maybe it’s something you’ve wondered about yourself! In my latest book for middle grade readers, Detective Thomas and the Mysteriously Perfect Plan, amateur sleuth Thomas asks himself why Mary matters to us so much as Catholics. With… Read more: 5 Lesser-Known Titles For Mary (And why she has so many titles anyway)
