Like advent before Christmas, Lent before Easter is a time of preparation, where we are invited and encouraged to take a look at our lives and how we can deepen our love and devotion to God.

There are multiple fasts in the season of Lent, which begins this week on the 18^th. The first and last fasts, Ash Wednesday and Good Friday, are mandatory fast days for everyone between the ages of 18 and 59 and is a reduction in the quantity of food eaten, usually omitting the equivalent of one or two meals. Abstinence is observed Ash Wednesday, Good Friday, and all other Fridays in Lent. Abstinence refers to the reduction of the kind of food eaten, usually omitting flesh and fowl. Some find it helpful to apply abstinence to every day in Lent, but that is optional.

The longer fast, sometimes called the Lenten Fast, is sometimes known as “giving something up for Lent”. Some folks who think they are quite funny say they would rather “give up Lent” but when we remember the goal is God, and deepening our relationship with him, these acts of devotion can be a great help. Last week, we heard Isaiah remind us that we need to be doing our faith in how we treat others, and I think this is part of the Lenten Fast.

Since we love God, and want to draw closer to him, we thank him for the many blessings and good things he has given to us. As Catholics, we are encouraged to practice something called “detachment” which is letting go, not be attached to things in this earthly life. It is a good idea in preparation for Lent, to take stock of the good things that God has given us, and that we enjoy. It is good to thank God for his bounty, for his generosity, and then to say “Because I love God MORE than the good things he gives, I am going to give up this particular good thing for Lent, because I need the Giver more than the gift. The second part, as we saw in Isaiah 58, is to use the time or the money saved and direct it to helping those in need, by making a difference, by being Christ in our communities.

The advantage of giving up some good thing is that we can take it back after Lent. If you choose to use Lent to stop speeding, for example, please continue to drive safely after Easter! By choosing to detach ourselves, to fast, from some good thing, we can view God’s gifts in a new light. I can think back on the things I have given up for Lent over the years, like chocolate and ice cream. I still enjoy them but have been freed from the sense if “I need to have them.”

GK. Chesterton observed “I trust the man who says he will not put sugar in his tea for Lent more than the man who says he will work for world peace, because the man who avoids putting sugar in his tea knows that he has done it.” May this Lent be time of greater devotion to God for each of us, and for DOING what we can to draw closer to him.

Fr. Kipling