Thoughts on Lent

While reading some of Fr. Lagrange's thoughts on the "spirit of poverty" in his tour de force 2 volume book "Three Ages of the Interior Life", I was reminded of a way to make the practice of giving up something for Lent even more meaningful. Some people might give up a favorite food or beverage for Lent, and that is a wonderful discipline. I've sometimes recommended that a person might enrich their experience further by not only giving up that item, yet, still purchase it and give it to the poor, a neighbor, a food bank, or some other in need. Alternatively, the money that would be spent on the item could be donated in stead of the item itself. For example, if one was giving up a daily expensive coffee, one could purchase coffee for a food bank.

There is precedence for this when one thinks of prayers that are entrusted to Jesus or to the Blessed Virgin, for the benefit of those in the greatest need. Fr. Lagrange writes, "Following the advice of St. Grignion de Montfort, many interior souls strip themselves of all that is communicable to others in their prayers and good works and entrust it to the Blessed Virgin that she may use it to the best advantage of souls on earth or in purgatory in greatest need of it."

Likewise, the faithful who give up a material advantage that they possess for Lent can gain extraordinary benefit for themselves and others by allocating that material item or its financial equivalent to those who lack that same item, or the funds. Imagine that not only do you give up a cherished food for the Lord on Lent, but the smile on some person's face who gains that item as an unexpected treat in their life!