A Pared-Down Lent

It’s a little over a week since Ash Wednesday. How’s your Lent going so far? 

Every year I look forward to this season as a time for stepping back and re-evaluating who and what I am in the big picture of God’s creation. Sometimes I undertake big changes at this time: three years ago I decided to give up meat for Lent, and it was such a life-changing experience that I haven’t gone back. 

Other years it’s smaller stuff: one year I gave up wearing perfume, another, burning incense, and yet another time I wore the same pair of earrings throughout Lent. These, I know, sound like frivolous actions, but in the greater pantheon of things, they’re not. Each was something that brought me into a more disciplined and simple mindset; each small sacrifice made me focus less on the loveliness that flavors each day and more on what really is essential. 

This year I came onto my Lenten practice a bit late; I just wasn’t feelin’ it for the first few days. On the first Sunday of Lent, however, I was shopping in one of those large discount stores for dog food and a few other household items, when I became distracted by other bargains in the store. “Oooh, I have to have that; OMG, we really need this. Wow, look at the price; can’t pass that up!” Pretty soon my carriage was filled not only with what I needed, but with a bunch of other stuff that was just too good to pass by. 

Photo credit: graur razvan ionut

Then something that I heard that morning in the temptation story of Jesus in the desert stopped me in my tracks. What was I doing? Why was I buying all these other things that were not necessarily bad, but which I clearly did not need? (After all, temptation wouldn’t be temptation, would it, if there wasn’t some element of good contained within?) 

And then I came upon this year’s practice: buy only what I need. This is not a new idea. Catholic stewardship addresses the hierarchy of needs in a very solid and straightforward way. It’s just that putting it into practice here in the US of A when there’s just so much stuff to buy—well, it’s hard. 

But that’s what I’m practicing this Lent: buy nothing I don’t need. Even a few days into this mindset, it’s already a challenge. There have been at least five occasions so far where a food item seemed irresistable, a book looked really interesting (but would only raise the to-read pile a little higher), a skirt was such a deal and would go with everything I already owned. 

This practice isn’t going to make me rich, for sure. But what I hope it does, by observing a spirituality of necessity this Lent, is to better focus on the one true thing that matters: a right relationship with God and with the people around me. 

There is a lot of inspiration for simple living in the book, Mystics: 10 Who Show Us the Way of God, by Murray Bodo. Here are models for living a life motivated by prayer and contemplation, and centered in the love of God. 

What challenges are you facing with your Lenten practice—even if it’s simply not having one? 

photo credit: soilbedust and graur razvan ionut

About the Author

Mary Carol Kendzia

Mary Carol Kendzia is a product development director for Franciscan Media Books. She lives in Rhode Island, where she occasionally dips her toes into the Atlantic and reflects on the mysteries of life, among other things.