“The life of a monk ought to be a continuous Lent. Since few, however, have the strength for this, we urge the entire community during these days of Lent to keep its manner of life most pure and wash away in this holy season the negligence of other times.”
-Rule of Saint Benedict, Ch. 49
**Below is a Lenten reflection I was asked to give during Convocation this morning**
Good morning everybody, I’m up here to share a little bit about what Lent means to me.
The three pillars of lent are prayer, fasting, and almsgiving. The first two parts are easy to understand– everyone knows what prayer is, and fasting means to give something up. What I want to talk a little bit about is the last part, almsgiving, and how that helps bring out the true meaning of Lent to me.
Almsgiving literally means to give alms. Giving alms means to give something freely to others, and it doesn’t always mean money or material possessions. Almsgiving can mean donating your time, talents, or even just controlling yourself in how you relate to others.
This Lent I’m challenging you to put some good thought in what you’re giving up, but not JUST about what you’re giving up, but rather what you’re replacing it with. I can promise you that God does not give a damn about the fact that you’re not eating ice cream or skipping snacks at lunch just to do it. God wants us to look deep into ourselves, our purpose, and our goals during this time. He wants us to reflect. He wants our hearts.
This Lent is going to be interesting for me. I’m already making a pretty big sacrifice– I moved far away from my friends and family in Minnesota to live in a monastery and spend time with annoying prep-school boys. . . [pause for dramatic effect]
In all honesty, things can get a little bit lonely here, and I’ve found myself spending too much time on social media– sometimes before I know it I’ve spent an hour or two mindlessly switching between Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, and Snapchat. This Lent I’ll be taking a break from social media. However, I’m not just trying to take it out of my life. I’m trying to spend that time more productively, whether it is reading a book, attending another prayer with the monks, or just reflecting on how I can use my time better in the day. Sometimes vices like social media can be hard to break, but breaking vices is easier when you have a reason to. Make Lent that reason.
Now, keep in mind that Lent should involve some amount of suffering. Whatever you give up shouldn’t be easy. In my life, I’ve found that a little bit of suffering for a greater purpose can be a good thing. All you athletes know this– life isn’t always about being comfortable. When you find yourself hungry after a day of fasting or upset that you can’t do whatever it is that you’ve given up, I like to take that moment to think about the suffering of Jesus, and the people of the world in a lot worse places than we are right now. Lent is meant to bring us closer to those people as well.
Think about what you can do. Think about a bad habit you can break. If you don’t think you can break a bad habit, make some steps towards it. Lent shouldn’t be a time to just suffer and endure, but rather a time to get back to the simpler things of life and take a good long look at our values and priorities to see if they are in line with God’s plan for us, and our plan for ourselves. Hopefully those two things are the same.
I like to think of Lent as a time to re-start, like a second chance. It’s a time when you and everyone around you can take steps to be more like the people you want to be. Lent isn’t about becoming less like yourself, it’s about becoming your more authentic self.
***
The Monastic Intern 