Have you given anything up for Lent? If you did, how is it going, one week in? I have friends who annually give up chocolate during Lent. I’ve never tried this myself, but I can only imagine the wonder of tasting that first piece of chocolate on Easter Sunday morning. It puts me in mind of the scene at the end of the film “Chocolat” when (spoiler alert) the Comte de Reynaud breaks into Vianne’s Chocolaterie on Easter Saturday, intent on destroying her window display. But then, the tiniest shard of chocolate accidently touches his lips ...
Giving something up for a brief time can be a good exercise in self-control and mindfulness, and a way of reminding ourselves of all the good things we take for granted. But should giving something up be an end in itself, or be about self-improvement for its own sake? Pope Francis has said: “Lent is a fitting time for self-denial; we would do well to ask ourselves what we can give up in order to help and enrich others by our own poverty.”
When the Lord spoke to Isaiah in his vision concerning Judah and Jerusalem, He said:
“The multitude of your sacrifices —
what are they to me?” says the Lord.
“I have more than enough of burnt offerings,
of rams and the fat of fattened animals;
I have no pleasure
in the blood of bulls and lambs and goats.
“Wash and make yourselves clean.
Take your evil deeds out of my sight;
stop doing wrong.
Learn to do right; seek justice.
Defend the oppressed.
Take up the cause of the fatherless;
plead the case of the widow. (Isaiah 1; 11, 16-17)
I was recently struck by this quotation from Theophan the Recluse who said: “By giving man freedom, God has yielded to man a piece of His Divine authority, but with the intention that man himself would voluntarily bring it as a sacrifice to God, a most perfect offering.”
Many people, rather than giving something up for Lent, use this time to commit to starting something new. This could be actively seeking to undertake a small act of kindness every day, giving our time or money, committing to read the Bible more every day, or one of any number of other changes to our daily habits.
Rather than treating Lent only as a time to be inward looking, we can take the opportunity to also look outwards to the needs of others. Our world is full of people, places and situations which desperately need the touch of God. Why not commit to watch or read the news (despite – or maybe because of – how depressing and worrying it is), and actively pray into one situation in our world each day.
Perhaps also our prayer should be that we can use this time of Lent as a sacrifice to God, to bring ourselves as that “most perfect offering”.
Philip Clarke
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