So… about that Lent thing.
Back on March 4, I pledged to give up and take up in hopes of following Christ more closely. Here’s how I did:
- No meals out while I was in town: I think I did well by the intention of saving money and giving it to charity, and giving the time to God.
- Stop playing electronic games: Total success until Holy Thursday, where some car trouble in Ireland left me with nervous energy and time to fill.
- Blog on a female saint or blessed each day and post a short video: Did it. Wasn’t totally pleased with the videos (how did that image of the sign get reversed, and why couldn’t I get it to flip back?), but that sacrifice of pride was part of the process. Learned about still more awesome women, and rejoiced in Pope Francis’s canonization of Marie of the Incarnation during Lent. Hard story. Strong woman.
- Find a piece of service beyond writing: Abject failure. Didn’t move forward on this at all. Need to.
During Lent, I had the gift of an ah-ha moment as part of a much-anticipated first-time trip to Ireland, including Palm Sunday Mass at St. Mary’s Cathedral in Killarney. A distant cousin was kind enough to get my sister and me into the sacristy so we could touch the 1842
baptismal registry for our great-grandmother Giobnat “Abby” Leane, and see the remains of the font where she would have been baptized.
What with growing up during the Famine, emigrating to the United States, and marrying and having ten children, I doubt Abby had a whole lot of time to puzzle over her spiritual development, the way I contemplate making my Lenten changes permanent and continuing to find ways to walk closer with Christ. Most likely, she went to Mass, prayed, hoped for the best, and counted on God to help her find a way to make it through the worst. And maybe, that’s what faith is all about.
I like the observation about your great grandmother not having a lot of time to think about spiritual development. She just lived her life and believed God. For someone like me who likes to “think” about such matters, I can strike a better balance, meaning sometimes I just need to live my life and trust that my faith in the moment–and God–is enough.
PS Sounds like a blog post for me!
Yeah, sometimes our “first world” problems really are problems, I think, such as the ability to overponder and overanalyze. Really, God through his Son made it all quite clear and simple, yes?
Yes, so clear and simple I’ll need the rest of my earthly life to “know” and to “do,” to “do” and to “know”–all shadows of what’s to come.