Growing up Catholic and now being able to practice my faith even more at a Catholic college has allowed me the opportunity to grow in my faith and learn more about what we practice and believe as Catholics. If you're Catholic, you know that the season of Lent started last Wednesday on Ash Wednesday, and ends on Holy Thursday before Easter. The season of Lent is meant for us to grow closer to God by sacrificing and being uncomfortable, either metaphorically or literally.
To grow closer to God through sacrificing, we are called to pray more, fast, and give alms. Praying more could mean spending more time in daily prayer with God or even going to Mass more than on just Sundays. Fasting doesn't necessarily have to be fasting from food, although we are still called to fast of Ash Wednesday and Good Friday and not eat meat of Fridays during Lent. Fasting could include giving up a certain food or activity that we particularly enjoy. And alms-giving means to give what we have in abundance and give it to the poor.
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Usually people give up chocolate or sweets, especially young kids, but for me growing up, I didn't really see the point in giving something up while also being tempted everywhere. It wasn't until I got to college where I really started to realize how important it actually is to not only give something up like chocolate, but we also have to consciously make an effort to pray more, give to the poor, and fast from other worldly desires.
It really actually wasn't until the middle of Lent last year, that this happened and God placed it on my heart that I need to make an effort to spend at least a half hour with him in daily prayer in front of Christ truly present in the Eucharist in Adoration, and what a difference it made in every aspect of my life. I was able to really deepen my relationship with God during that time, but after I got sick around Easter, it fell by the wayside.
Because of the difference it made for me last year, I decided to spend at least a half hour every day in Adoration this school year. So far, it's been going pretty well, and I am able to see the difference it has made in every aspect of my life. But this year, to add on to that, after seeing some suggestions of what other people would be doing this year, I decided that I needed to give up the Facebook app on my phone, so as soon as it hit midnight on Ash Wednesday, I did. I had been spending so much time just looking at a screen and scrolling - while I was getting ready in the mornings, while eating, and yes, like many people, even while I was in the bathroom - that I basically became addicted to looking at Facebook whenever I wasn't doing anything or talking so someone. I would waste so much time not really doing anything productive or worthwhile, so I needed a break from it all. I didn't completely give up Facebook, though, as much as I need a break from it. I still have my messenger app and I installed the groups app to stay up to date on everything I'm involved in and a part of, plus I'll be spending no more than about 10 minutes on FB from a computer.
In addition to giving up the FB app, I also decided to read a daily devotional during my prayer time to grow closer to Christ and get to know Him better, while learning how to see Him in everyone I meet and everything I do. It is called "Rediscover Jesus" by Matthew Kelly, who is an amazing Catholic writer and speaker, and so far, it is amazing. I highly recommend it.
Even though doing something for Lent hasn't really been my thing up until this year, since I've gotten to college I've grown so much in my faith that I wanted to do something to experience growing even closer to God in a different way to change that this year. I may not be doing a lot, but so far giving up my FB app has been so rewarding, yet such a sacrifice, that I absolutely needed. I'm taking it one step at a time, and one day at a time. Maybe next year I'll do something completely different, or even more, but we'll see when the time gets here. Right now, I just want to focus on this Lent and how I can become even closer to God. What are you going to do today to get closer to God this Lenten season?
