Prepare Your Heart for Lent

Lent, which begins with Ash Wednesday on February 22 this year, is just around the corner. Now, before the season starts, is the time to start cultivating an interior disposition so that you can fully meet Jesus during that time.

Practical preparation

“What are you going to ‘do’ this Lent?” is always the question we ask each other. 

If you decide on your Lenten course of action well in advance of the season, you set yourself up for success. Spending too much time deciding what you will “do” once Lent starts will cause you to miss out on the opportunity to hear and meet Jesus in this incredibly rich liturgical time. You will also have time to plan and prepare: to buy the book you’re going to read and to organize your schedule to allow for prayer or volunteer time.

Mental preparation

But have you thought about how you will prepare yourself mentally, as well? Entering into prayer is similar: use the first five or ten minutes to remove all the mental noise and distractions. Then, once your mind is calmed, the voice of God will be easier to hear.

Likewise, use the days before Lent to intentionally orient yourself to the upcoming season of penance. As Lent approaches, use your prayer time leading up to Lent to talk to God about what He wants to show you this Lenten season. 

Begin to cultivate real silence in your life. Rely less on your phone to fill your time, turn off the TV, and notice when you automatically turn to a podcast or music to fill the silence.

Adopt less self-critical, or other-critical, ways of thinking and speaking. Habits of criticizing arguably generate the worst “noise” in our lives.

Spend time thinking specifically about the purpose of Lent. Do you see these 40 days just as a time of self-deprivation or as an invitation?

I am not recommending starting Lent early, and by all means, give your Fat Tuesday celebration all you’ve got. But “warming up” for Lent through this kind of intentional self-examination can make a big difference in your attitude during the real thing. Lent is a great gift for Catholics. Use it!

How will I spend this Lent?

Traditional Lenten activities tend to fall into one of three categories: prayer, fasting, or service. Are you reading a spiritual book, spending a certain amount of time in prayer each morning, or volunteering at your crisis pregnancy center?

A few years ago, I interviewed a range pf people on their Lenten “plan,” from giving up manicures to writing people hand-written notes. View that article, “Rethinking Lent this Year,” and see if any of their ideas resonate with and inspire you.

You may also want to reach out to your priest or spiritual director to get guidance on how you, in this time and place, will be best served by a particular Lenten practice or practices. 

A word of advice

A word of advice to the faithful and those trying their best: please do not view Lent and the choices you make as a race or competition. A temptation exists to view our ability to give up things, for example, as owing to our own physical strength or stamina. That’s not even the point! Be wary of how pride or vanity could creep into your Lent, if you are giving up things to prove to others or yourself that you can.

What we’re trying to do when we give up things is to make room in our life for Jesus and to remember His sacrifice. The physical discomfort of Lent reminds us of Christ’s suffering. By clearing out the “stuff” – the noise, the time-wasting behavior, the self-judgment, the sin, the sweets – our hearts and souls are able to more clearly recognize Jesus.

Another word of advice is to choose your Lenten activities because they speak to you, personally. That is most likely where God is calling you. Don’t want to feed the homeless? Okay, don’t. Call up your lonely neighbor instead, or read Cardinal Sarah, or try lectio divina, among many other possibilities.

Embrace the discomfort for these 40 days (minus Sundays). Don’t think too much about it. Ultimately, Lent is a time to follow God more closely, to hear His voice, and finally, to rejoice in the triumph of His love for this world.