“We need to take time to connect with the poor, resist our unceasing cravings, and pray. But we also need to gather with friends and family, share in God’s good provision, eat delicious food, tell stories that encourage us all, and celebrate the risen Lord.” ~ A Place at the Table: 40 Days of Solidarity with the Poor
Lent is more than about “me”. It is really all about “us and them”. Yes, there is a personal component. We are challenged to identify the things in our lives that keep us from drawing as close to the Lord as we should. Once identified, we need to make a plan of action to change those things or root them out of our lives. However, Lent is also about looking out at our world and seeing what we need to work on there as well.
Introspection will give us what we need to determine a course of action for our personal lives. Looking out at the world also helps us remember that our sins are never personal. Because of what we have done and failed or refused to do, there have been others who have been affected — maybe even harmed — by our action or inaction.
When we work on what is lacking within, we also need to see if there are things we need to patch up in our external world. We might have hurt a friend, a sibling, an acquaintance, a fellow worker, or someone else. What can we do repair to damage we may have done? We may have ignored the plight of another and left someone to go without food or shelter, without compassion or friendship. What can we do to help make that person whole?
You see, Lent is about working on the entire package. We will not be right with the Lord if we are so introspective that we do not take into account how our words or actions affect others.
FAITH ACTION: Let your prayer, abstinence, and good works today help you to focus on the needs of those around you.
Remember: Fridays of Lent are Days of Abstinence