Tag Archive for: Lent

More Ups Than Giving Up

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More Ups Than Giving Up

 

I, the LORD, alone probe the mind and test the heart,
To reward everyone according to his ways,
according to the merit of his deeds. (Jeremiah 17:10)

When our children were young, we always talked to them about Lent and how it leads up to Easter. We made sure they all gave up something and understood the sacrifice involved. One year, when they were very young, we even did the jelly bean Lenten activity. One thing I’m not sure we did adequately, though, was teach our children why we give things up. I don’t know that we really emphasized the point of the sacrifice, the point of going without, or the point of forty days of changed behavior.

As one who has never felt spiritually challenged or renewed by giving things up, I do know that I always tried to impress upon our girls that it’s not always about what you give up. The real point is what goes on within. That’s really what Lent is all about — a change from within.

To make up for lost time with my own girls and to help others who may still be struggling two weeks into Lent, here are things I feel are more important than giving up. These are the other UPs of Lent.

Lifting Up

Over the next forty days, instead of concentrating on giving up, why not concentrate on lifting up?

  • Lift up someone’s spirits by visiting them, calling them, or even sending them a note.
  • Lift up someone’s workload. Help someone with a daunting task, help clean the house of someone who is sick or overwhelmed, or help by sharing a heavy load: caring for a child or parent, driving to appointments, or cooking meals.
  • Lift up a hand to help a neighbor. Shovel their snowy sidewalks, offer a warm blanket, or help with their yard work. Always remember, “Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me” (Matthew 25:41).
  • Lift up yourself and others in prayer. Pray for healing, comfort, mercy, understanding, forgiveness, guidance, or wisdom for yourself and for others.

 

Chalking Up

Lent is the perfect time to unload the things that weigh you down.

  • Chalk up your past. Realize your past does not define you. Spend these forty days working on a new you–a new outlook, new attitude, or new prayer life. C.S. Lewis said, “You can’t go back and change the beginning, but you can start where you are and change the ending.”
  • Chalk up your regrets. Your failures and regrets are not you and should not be what you focus on. St Paul wrote, “But [this] one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead” (Philippians 3:13). Stop holding onto regrets from the past, and start straining forward to create a better path ahead.
  • Chalk up lost causes. Put away those things that are holding you back mentally, physically, and spiritually. This includes the people in your life who bring you down or continually hurt you. You can’t change them. You can only change your reaction to them and how you live your own life.

 

Taking Up

The purpose of Lent is not to get rid of old habits or make over lifestyles. It is a time to reflect on the person you are versus the person you are meant to be.

Take up a new cause. Once you’ve left the lost causes behind, find something to pursue that brings you joy. What is missing in your life, and how can you find it? Often, we think, if I only had more (fill in the blank–money, time, things), but the question should be what will truly bring me joy? And I don’t mean this is in a Marie Kondo clean and organize your house kind of way. Not even close.

Joy is not something we can obtain through things or situations, or even people. What is joy? Saint Peter describes it as “inexpressible and glorious … the result of your faith [felt by] the salvation of your souls” (1 Peter 1:8-9). What cause can bring you true joy?

 

Picking Up

Lent allows us to discard the things we don’t truly need and discover the things that will bring us closer to God.

  • Pick up the broken pieces. Perhaps it’s a broken friendship or broken family or broken heart. How can you mend it? What can you do to gather the pieces and put them back together? It’s the first step that is the hardest, so take that step.
  • Pick up someone who is down. Whether they are down physically, mentally, or spiritually, reach out to someone in need. Try pairing this with one of the suggestions above. By making a difference in someone else’s life you can make a difference in yours!
  • Pick up the Bible. You can do this! You can find the time to read God’s Word. Is Leviticus too hard? Is Deuteronomy too daunting? Try Jeff Cavins’ Unlocking the Mystery of the Bible that allows you to read the narrative parts of the Bible and eases you into the harder stuff. Or follow along with Father Mike Schmitz and his Bible In A Year Podcast. It’s not too late to start.
  • Pick up the Rosary. It doesn’t have to be all at once. You can do a decade at a time. What matters is to do it.
  • Pick up your cross. We all have hardships; accept them. We all have sorrows; look for joy. We all sin; confess and overcome them. Do what you need to do to find salvation.

 

 

The Key to Giving Up is Letting Go

As you ponder the next forty days and what you will do with them, realize that the real key is giving up and letting go. Give up hatred, fear, selfishness, greed, and pride. Give up the things that don’t bring you joy. Let go of the people, things, and situations that take you away from the life you are meant to be living, the life God intends you to lead. Let go of your anger, hurts, distrust, and doubts. Allow God to change you. Allow Him to create in you a new person.

 

The Key to Letting Go is Letting God

When the rain came down for forty days and flood waters washed over the earth, the earth and its creatures were changed. They began new lives as children of God. When the Israelites spent forty years wandering, in search of the Promised Land, they were changed. God used those forty years to turn them into a people who relied on Him, prayed to Him, and set their sights on Him. When Jesus spent forty days in the desert, He emerged ready to begin His mission, ready to gather His flock, and ready to take up His cross. After Jesus’s resurrection, He spent forty days appearing to the Apostles and Disciples, giving them the courage and knowledge they needed to spread the Good News.

You may emerge from these forty days still bearing burdens, still living the same life with the same problems, and facing the same hardships; but you can emerge stronger, wiser, happier, and hardier. You can emerge a changed person, a person who thinks about others first, a person who lives without past regrets, a person who knows and understands true joy, a person who prays more, and a person who gives his or her trials to God, for He tells us, “Come to me, all you who labor and are burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am meek and humble of heart; and you will find rest for yourselves. For my yoke is easy, and my burden light” (Matthew 11:28-30).

That’s what Lent is all about. Turning everything over to God and allowing Him to mold you into a new creation, ready to find rest in Him. What will you do with what’s left of these forty days?

 

 

Copyright 2026 Amy Shisler
Images: (top) copyright 2026 Amy Schisler, all rights reserved; (bottom) Canva

Cath-Lit Live: Ashes, Visible and Invisible

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Cath-Lit Live: Ashes, Visible and Invisible

“Cath-Lit Live!” features brief interviews with Catholic authors who are releasing new books. Hosted by Catholic author and speaker Amy J. Cattapan, “Cath-Lit Live!” gives viewers a glimpse into the latest Catholic books while getting to know a bit about the author as well.

 

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Ashes: Visible and Invisible by Catholic Teen Books

A boy in ancient Israel, a girl in modern-day America, a young man in the far future; a dozen teenagers in different settings. What do they all have in common? Each of these otherwise unrelated young people is presented with a choice, the same choice that every teen must make at some point in their lives: God or self. Sacrifice or selfishness.

The stakes vary. Some characters in this anthology risk being eaten by dinosaurs while others must simply rise to a new level of maturity in their everyday life, or choose a higher level of generosity.

Ashes: Visible and Invisible is a collection of stories that will both entertain young readers and invite them into a deeper understanding of Lent and their faith.

 

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About the author:

An avid reader since childhood, award-winning author and journalist Amanda Lauer is the creator of the Heaven Intended Civil War series. A World Such as Heaven Intended won the 2016 CALA Award and A Freedom Such as Heaven Intended earned the 2022 Catholic Media Book Awards: First Place Catholic Novels: Inspirational. In addition, Lauer has written two time-travel novels Anything But Groovy and Royal & Ancient. Ashes: Visible & Invisible, a follow-up to Treasures: Visible & Invisible, is her second anthology written will fellow Catholic Teen Book authors.

 

 

You can catch “Cath-Lit Live” live on A.J. Cattapan’s author Facebook page. Recorded versions of the show will also be available to watch later on her YouTube channel and Instagram.

 

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Copyright 2023 Amy J. Cattapan
Banner image via Pexels

An unexpected Evangelization Moment—Distributing Ashes on Ash Wednesday in Walmart

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The USCCB states that evangelizing means bringing the Good News of Jesus into every human situation. So how can we everyday Catholics always be prepared to evangelize?

Our behavior and our actions and the words we use are tools for evangelizing. They show that we are Christian. Saying grace before meals while in a restaurant with family or friends, or simply having an “I Love Jesus” bumper sticker on your car, gives a powerful message. You get the idea.

Many times things happen that are “in our face,” and we have only a moment or so to decide what to do: Should we stay and help or keep on walking? It is very easy to ignore a situation, but that is not what the Good Samaritan did, is it? What follows is an example of one of those unexpected moments.

I am an Extraordinary Minister of Holy Communion (EMHC), and on Ash Wednesday, on my way home after distributing ashes and Holy Communion, I decided to make an unplanned stop at Walmart. I did not have to go there; there was nothing specific I needed, but there was the store and the next thing I knew, the car was parked. As I walked toward the entrance I decided I needed double-A batteries. I did not truly need them, but I guess I had to validate my being there.

As I walked into the store, the express lanes were ahead and to the right. Ahead and to my left was McDonald’s. Outside McDonald’s was a bench, and sitting in it was Rachel, an elderly lady I knew from church. We have been friends for a long time. I walked over to her to say “hi,” and she looked at my forehead and said, “Oh, Larry, it’s you. We forgot today was Ash Wednesday. We didn’t get ashes.”

Let the unplanned evangelizing begin.

Rachel weighs about 70 pounds soaking wet and she is in her late eighties. Her husband, Jim, has Parkinson’s disease and is about the same age. They had both been widowed, met in church, and have been married for about fifteen years. I was still in my shirt and tie and wearing my EMHC cross. Next thing you know I was sitting next to Rachel, praying with her and placing ashes on her forehead. When I finished, I asked her, “Where is Jim?”

Jim was on the line in McDonald’s. The entrance was about fifty feet from where we were sitting. As I got up to find Jim, I noticed there were about a half-dozen people standing there watching us. It dawned on me that there were some people wondering why I was smearing dirt on an old lady’s forehead. I simply looked at them all and said, “Hi folks, today is Ash Wednesday. You can Google it.”

I turned and headed into the restaurant. There stood Jim, about eighth in line with about ten more people behind him. The place was packed and the poor guy was standing there with his left forearm and hand trembling unmercifully. I walked up to him and he was stunned to see me. I said as quietly as I could, “Jim, I just gave Rachel ashes. Would you like to have them too?”

As I stood praying softly with Jim, our audience began to grow. By the time I placed ashes on his forehead more people were coming over to see what was going on. I did hear some people mention, “Ash Wednesday.”

That was my impromptu cue. I turned and faced the gathering crowd and raised my hands in the air. “Hey everyone, today is Ash Wednesday. I am Catholic, as are my friends here, whom I just happened to bump into. They were unable to get to Mass today so they are receiving ashes which remind us to ‘remember that we are dust and into dust we shall return’.”

I actually gave several more people ashes, but then I had none left. I know a lot of people, religious and non-religious alike, watched the unscripted distribution of the ashes. It was an evangelization moment for sure, and it all happened in less than fifteen minutes. I also know it had to be my guardian angel who helped me pull that steering wheel to the right, leading me into Walmart.

I never did get the batteries.

 

Copyright 2019 Larry Peterson 

Margaret Rose Realy and Lent – CWG February Book Blast

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Cultivating Gods Garden - Feb 2015

This month’s CWG Book Blast is to get you ready for Lent. We’re a little behind, but that doesn’t make Margaret Rose Realy’s book any less applicable. It’s a perfect springtime meditation as well. It has the CWG Seal of Approval and is published by Patheos Press.

Cultivating God’s Garden through Lent

Margaret Rose Realy, Obl. OSB

These daily reflections for Lent offer tranquility and simplicity by finding God through nature. Readers who love gardens and woods and find solace in experiencing the Creator through these environments will enjoy these prayerful reflections.

Excerpt:

Thursday after Ash Wednesday

 Fast from bitterness; turn to forgiveness

Fast from hatred; return good for evil

It was a relatively small patch that I had dug at the back end of the yard to the rental house where I planned a vegetable garden. As an undergraduate at MSU, and a decade older than my classmates, I knew that growing my own food was a necessity; I did not have parents supporting my education.

I dug a portion of the sod and broke up clumps, picked stones and broken glass from the soil, raked it smooth, and mounded the edges to help direct water. Purchasing seeds, I then planted the early season crops of peas, radishes, kales, and a few herbs. A few weeks later I would purchase starter plants for vegetables that took longer to mature such as eggplants, tomatoes, and peppers.

I returned home rather late after classes one day about a week later and again headed to the back of the yard to water the seedlings before sunset. A few feet away I stopped dead in my tracks, saddened by the state of my garden patch. The mounded edges had been kicked into the lawn. Two-thirds of the patch had been covered over with pieces of hand-dug sod, while the remaining third was trampled. Apparently I had unknowingly encroached into the neighbor’s property.

Disheartened, I cleaned up what remained but knew I did not have enough time in my schedule to expand the now even smaller patch.

Soon afterwards, as weather permitted, I planted starters of tomatoes and eggplants in the remaining section of garden. In another garden area bordering the house I tucked in some bush zucchini seeds.

Throughout the summer when I was studying in my room, I would often hear the neighbor mowing his yard and anxiously hoped my plants were safe. They were often coated with grass clippings but never really damaged.

It wasn’t long until the fruits of my labor ripened and canning and freezing commenced. There is something about tomato and zucchini plants in that I always underestimate their production. Even with the smaller plot I had an overabundance.

While washing the vegetables I looked out the window over the kitchen sink. Sitting in the shade of a large sycamore tree was the woman who lived with the man who mowed the lawn that covered my plants with debris. What I saw was just another woman on a hot August day trying to find a cool place to sit. I had lived next to her for almost a year and never knew her name. After all, I was just another student in the rental house next door.

I carefully laid newspapers in the bottom and up the sides of a small cardboard box. I placed a few small zucchini to one side and then piled several large tomatoes on the other. I took a deep breath and headed out the screened side door.

As I approached the woman I introduced myself and held out the box of vegetables. I could tell by the look on her face she was surprised to see me. I think she realized for the first time that I, the student next door, was close to her own age and not a teenager.

As she accepted my gift she seemed dumbfounded by my presence. She never rose from the lawn chair or told me her name. Avoiding eye contact, she spoke a barely audible “Thanks.”

Feeling rejected, but without bitterness, I turned away and went back to my kitchen to continue putting food by. Looking again through the window I noticed that my neighbor had left her shady area and taken with her my gift.

That September I found a room in a house closer to campus. Before I moved away I kicked the mounded edges of dirt into the little patch that had been my garden, smoothed it over, and dusted it with seeds for new lawn. I patted down my pant legs and “shook the dust from my sandals,” knowing I had already moved on.

____________________________

Heavenly Father,

Guide me to always reflect you to those around me. Spare me the shame of reciprocal behaviors rooted in personal pride and let me not limit your love to human love. Grant me to be charitable and forgiving in the face of apathy or anger, so that those whom I meet will know it is you that I serve.

Amen.

Available online at:

Amazon, https://bit.ly/1Ms4EPF

Patheos Press, https://bit.ly/1iBPxTm

Barnes & Noble, https://bit.ly/17J9Fn2

Website: https://www.patheos.com/blogs/prayergardens

Author Central: https://amzn.to/1AKPvUS

Still not sure? Check out this review:

Cultivating God’s Garden through Lent offers daily reflections for each of the days of Lent. These reflections come from the writer’s experience bringing order to gardens both real and spiritual. At every turn of the trowel, every sprinkle of seed, every tug of a weed, Margaret points out to us the rich, loamy meaning that God has for us, just waiting there quietly, if only we will make ourselves still and small enough to see. Margaret does this, shares the fruits of her contemplation with us, and in doing so, invites us to examine our own gardens, wild and weed-ridden they may be. If we stop and look with her, we will see the kind of quiet, luscious adventure that only a gardener can find. This is the first book to ever make me wish Lent could be longer than it already is. The meditations in Cultivating are just the right length to slow you down without dragging it out, and the messages are presented so clearly… I cannot wait to see what sorts of seeds come forth from the read during that time of cold, silent, invisible growth [of Lent]. ~ Mrs. Erin McCole Cupp, OP

Blogging through Lent

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Yes, I will keep blogging through Lent. Just like last year. And the year before. And the year before that. And…well, you see where this is going.

And, just like last year, I think it’s worth bringing up here.

Many people in the Catholic blogosphere give up blogging or other social media for Lent. Though I’ve never done it for Lent, I have had blogging and social media fasts/breaks for shorter periods, and it’s been a fruitful experience.

I think a fast of some sort from online interactions is a healthy thing. Whether it happens at Lent or at another point during the year, it’s something to consider.

Will you give up blogging and/or social media this year for Lent?

What’s it all about? How Theme can help your story shine.

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Theme comes in lots of shapes, sizes, and variations, but embodies the core of what something is about, whether it’s your brand as a writer, the story you’re writing, the characters you’re writing about – or the music you’re listening to while writing. So what is theme, and how can it help focus and clarify your purpose as an author?

Theme is the underlying idea that makes something tick. It is pervasive and affects everything about the whole, without being overt or overbearing. In fact, the best practical expression of theme in writing rarely shows up as words on paper. Rather, theme directs the words in order to come up with a finished product with specific meaning at a deeper level.

Let’s look at theme from the big picture to the more detailed aspects. First is your theme as a writer. Why do you write? What do you hope to accomplish – and how are you different from the thousands of other writers out there? If you’ve never written a mission statement for yourself, this is a great exercise. The answers to these questions can keep you focused and motivated. A bonus for taking a few minutes, hours, or weeks to analyze your purpose is that you may come up with a brand, a concise statement of why you are unique and what you have to offer your readers. If you’d like to take more time to contemplate your calling as a writer, Lent is a perfect time for reflection. Use it!

On to story. What are you writing about? Not the plot – what happens – but the deeper meaning? This is the place for clichés. Not in the writing, but in your mind. Clichés tend toward the universal, and that’s what you’re after here. Identify the most resonant concept underpinning your story. Love conquers all… People and relationships are more important than one-upping the Joneses… Revenge, or mercy? Man against nature/beast (human or otherwise)/impossible odds, etc. Once you nail it down, make sure that the theme drives every scene in the story. Don’t beat the reader over the head with it—theme is best conveyed through subtlety—but your awareness will influence the words as they pour forth. Theme will provide conflict and growth throughout the book, even if each scene doesn’t have an overt thematic question.

One caveat about theme (a very large one), as it relates to story: Do not use theme to further your agenda. Readers will pick up on it and put your book down. Let the characters struggle with the issues in a natural, organic way; don’t have them act out a morality tale. Ellen Gable Hrkach alludes to this aspect of theme in her post on Feb. 13, 2012, Improve the Odds for Self-Publishing Success. Her first book, Emily’s Hope, enjoyed modest sales to a narrow audience. Please note, there is nothing wrong with this; if your mission is to be the voice for an issue, or you write without regard to readership or sales, that is your prerogative. Ellen stated, in writing that particular book, if her words touched one person, she would have achieved her goal. She clearly succeeded. But Ellen then wished to engage a larger audience. What did she do? She chose to widen the scope of theme in subsequent books – which are selling more briskly. So the idea of theme circles back to one’s theme as writer, which will inform your choices of theme in specific works.

Which leads us to the third level of theme. Characters. Each character should have a core belief or value that can be summed up in a short phrase. Duty first… Me first… Life is an adventure! Life is dangerous… Again, clichés rule here. What is most important to each individual character, i.e., what will they fight to the death for? The flip side is critical, too. What conflict will the character walk away from, and why? Once you understand your characters, keep that core belief in mind as you write. Your characters will stay true to themselves and their motivations, making for a book that readers will remember long after they’ve finished it. A bonus at this level: Your character’s theme is always a two-edged sword. Use it. Create conflict with it – and then find a way for the character to grow. By the end of the book, their theme may have changed; at the very least, they will live it in a deeper manner, and the reader will love them (and you) for it.

Do you consciously use theme in your writing? If so, how? Or, as you look back on your work, can you see theme at any of the three levels we’ve examined?

Lent and Blogging

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Over the years, my approach to blogging at Lent has remained pretty consistent: I keep doing it.

I have observed many others who either lighten their blogging load or give it up altogether. Some folks restrain themselves from their stats or turn off comments.

I’ve always just sort of kept going with it.

It’s worth exploring, especially in this space, how our writing endeavors (and thus our blogging endeavors) are affected by this important liturgical season.

Do you stop your blogging or lighten it up or something else? What’s the right answer?

That’s for you to decide.

As with so many other things, penance and our approach to Lent is highly personal. Some of us share it publicly, as a way of keeping ourselves accountable. I find that I’m helped, so often, by catching glimpses of what helps others in their spiritual walks.

Other people prefer to keep quiet and private about their Lenten approach. I have been doing that lately, in part because I have plenty of other things to write about and in part because I’ve discerned that, right now, that’s what’s right for me.

Some years, I’ll kick off a special series during Lent. This year, I’m starting a series of posts considering the Hail Mary word by word. The series will extend well beyond Lent, into the dog days of summer, but I’m looking forward to how it will surely help me during my Lent–and beyond–this year.

How about you? What are your blogging plans this year for Lent? If you care to share, I’d love to hear about it in the comments.

image credit: Marc Cardonella

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