My Lenten Devotion

With the coming of Lent this year (yes I realize that we have been in the season of lent for almost 2 weeks now) I've had many people talk to me about what their lenten sacrifice would be this year, and in return, have asked me what I was planning on giving up. Growing up as a cradle catholic, I've been in the routine of always "giving something up" for lent, but it hasn't been until what I'm calling my "more mature years" that I've really put some thought into the sacrifices we give during lent and why.

The "why" was never really a point of reflection for me in years past, but I believe that its a very important question to ask. Why give up this specific thing; chocolate, Mt. Dew, speeding while driving, swearing, etc... Why that specific thing, and what purpose will it fulfill being absent from your life? The more I think about this, the more I'm convinced that its not enough to pick something that will be difficult for you to live without, but that we should find something that will be more meaningful, helping us get closer to God and strengthen our relationship with Him.

I've struggled with this for the last couple weeks, and on praying about it, I've decided that working on my prayer life will be my lenten goal this year. I received in the mail from my church a handy little booklet with daily meditations on scripture for lent, and my plan is to read those with the corresponding scripture, and then blog about it here - this will serve a double purpose (hopefully), and get me blogging more habitually, as well as deepen my relationship with God and preparing myself for Jesus' coming for Easter.

I know its Sunday evening, but I figure, why wait till tomorrow to start my growth?! :) So here we go. . . . . . .

Sunday March 20, 2011 - Second Sunday of Lent

Today's meditation speaks about the responsorial psalm, "The Lord is my light and my salvation, of whom should I be afraid," (Psalm 33: 4-5) and we are asked to repeat this to ourselves a few times..."Savor it. Let it sink in." Too often I sit through mass without letting God's word sink into my soul and settle within me. This is especially true when I'm leading music worship for the mass. I get caught up in which mass part should be sung next, which hymn will need to be up and ready, and as with any performance, nerves set in and I worry about messing something up. I've been trying to make a habit of praying before mass especially for my focus on the words, and the actual worship I am leading, and that it not be simply routine (when catholics get a bad rap for monotonous, boring and very robot-like church services, I think its because we allow ourselves to settle into the routine of it and not listen for the beauty of God's word in the mass - but that's a conversation for another day).

My meditation also compares listening to God during mass this way: "We simply listen to God speak to us. It's like sitting in the sun." I could relate to this completely, for I absolutely LOVE sitting in the sun and soaking up the warm rays of a beautiful day, and once I read this I immediately pictured myself laying in the sunshine and smiling, in check with my many thoughts. In the future, I hope to remember this analogy and allow myself to close my eyes and bask in the glory and wonder of my Father's words, and what He wants to say to me in our quiet time together!

Psalm 33 is simple, yet reassuring. "The Lord is my light and my salvation, of whom should I be afraid?" As I put myself to sleep tonight, Lord settle within my heart and let your promises embed deep within me. If I seek you, Father, as my light and my love, fear of the unknown or of the enemy or of despair will never bring me down.