I look forward to Lent more and more each year. I see the desert journey as an opportunity to
reflect on my ways, on my steps and missteps. It’s a chance to get back to where
I need to be, to readjust my direction according to God’s will. The desert
provides an open space free of distractions. It’s up to us of course to
eliminate the distractions that present themselves in our day to day walk.
Pope
Francis said, “Lent calls us to “give ourselves a ‘shake-up.’” In his homily on
Ash Wednesday he said, “With its calls to conversion, Lent comes providentially
to rouse us, to shake us from our torpor, from the risk of moving forward
[merely] by inertia.”
I need the shakeup. I need to be roused. Already, I feel the
energy that comes from refocusing and putting aside all that weighs us. I’ve
learned that the penitential practice of giving something up for Lent, may seem
like a sacrifice at first, but actually it’s a blessing. In the end, we are better for the experience.
I find that fasting and giving something up makes more room in my life not only
for prayer but also for family time and writing.
As for the prescribed days of abstinence from meat on Ash
Wednesday and Fridays, I can’t count these days as sacrifice as I crave, year
round, the desert dishes served during the Lenten season, starting with nopalitos en salsa.
I do have some challenges ahead of me. By the grace of God, I pray
I am roused into action.
A ver que nos espera en estos días en el desierto.
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