In preparing for my weekly column in the parish bulletins, I came across 100 ideas for a fruitful Lent. I'll offer 50 here, and 50 in another post in a few days. They are a mix of the traditional and the new.
These proposed Lenten resolutions begin with some personal questions, to assess our current spiritual state:
- What habits do I engage in that are destructive to my spiritual health?
- To what material things am I too attached?
- What areas in my life are unbalanced?
- To what do I devote too much or not enough time?
- Where is my life heading?
1-10 The Usuals:
- Give up candy or sweets.
- Give up television time.
- Give up eating snacks between meals
- Give up or reduce soda or coffee.
- Give up or limit video games.
- Spend more time with family.
- Give generous donations to the poor, or those who work with the poor.
- Do an extra chore each day.
- Perform random acts of kindness.
- Spend more time in prayer.
11-20 Prayer:
- Read one or more books of the bible throughout the season of Lent.
- Attend one weekday Mass each week.
- Pray the rosary each day, along or with family members.
- Each day pray one meditative prayer (Suscipe, or Magnificat, or--very slowly--the Our Father).
- Begin a prayer notebook, write down special spiritual or biblical quotations, and keep a list of all the people you want to pray for daily.
- Learn to pray the Liturgy of the Hours.
- Make a commitment to attend Eucharistic Adoration regularly.
- Commit to examining your conscience each evening (using St. Ignatius of Loyola's Examen).
- Pray the Jesus Prayer at various times during the day.
- Pray the Angelus each day at noon.
21-30 For Those Addicted to Popular Culture
- Switch from talk radio or pop music to a Christian music station or Catholic talk radio (#129 on Sirius XM satellite radio).
- Avoid watching movies or shows with gratuitous violence or sex.
- Give up or limit watching sports on television. [This would be VERY HARD for me!]
- Listen only to classical music during Lent.
- Drive to work in silence.
- Read a work of classic literature, instead of the supermarket checkout magazines.
- Read a Catholic classic.
- Read a story to a child.
- Sit for 15 minutes each day in silence.
- Write a letter to God each day.
31-40 For Internet Users/Bloggers
- Set time limits on overall online usage.
- Limit Facebook time
- Limit Myspace time.
- Resist making or adding to lists that rank people.
- Share one spiritual video with your online network each week.
- Blog about the poor once a week.
- Add a spiritual blog to your list of favorites.
- Subscribe to a prayer podcast like Pray As You Go or Pray Station Portable.
- Leave an encouraging or positive comment on a different blog each week.
- Help a new blogger by sending traffic their way.
41-50 For Those Who Want to be More Grateful
- Each week, write and send a letter of thanks to a priest, bishop or pastoral minister who has helped you.
- Each week write a thank you note to your parents (even if they are deceased).
- Write a poem of praise for each persons in your family.
- Pray one of the Psalms each day.
- Write a list of the ways God has blessed you in your spiritual notebook.
- Over dinner talk about how you were blessed that day by God.
- Make a CD or iPod playlist of praise and worship music and listen to it often.
- Make a point of saying "thank you" to people in your daily life.
- Help your children or grandchildren to write a thank you letter to their teachers.
- Offer prayers of thanks for deceased relatives and friends.
Remember, no one person does every one of these. Pick one or two or three that you are attracted to, or that you know you need, and exercise them during Lent. Have a happy, holy, healthy Lent!
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