So, what are you giving up for Lent? 

Lent, after all, is a penitential season and calls for some self-denial on our part. But before we answer the question, there's a more important question that needs to be decided first before we give up chocolate, or internet time, or that glass of wine with dinner, and it's this:  why am I giving up something for Lent in the first place? 

Any form of self-denial is hard, for sure. But the purpose of penance is not to make ourselves (and those around us, too) miserable because we’re practicing self-denial. The Church has never understood the traditional penitential disciplines (prayer, fasting, and almsgiving/the works of charity and mercy) to be punitive in nature. Rather, they’re supposed to be medicinal. In other words, our penances are not meant to punish us, but to heal us. Now, the real question of the “why” of penance becomes a bit clearer; what has sin injured in me that needs to be healed this Lent? 

We begin Lent on Ash Wednesday by being signed with ashes while the words “Repent, and believe in the Gospel” are spoken to us. We should stay with these words throughout Lent, and beyond. Repentance,  metanoia  in Greek, is to experience a change of heart that results in a change of life. It is a turning from something, in this case our personal sins and weaknesses, and a turning to something, Someone, Jesus Christ, who offers us mercy and the grace to be made new again.  Believing means far more than simply holding something to be true. Believing also establishes us in a relationship to Jesus Christ in His Church, a relationship that is characterized by trust, self-surrender, and the service of others, especially the poor and most vulnerable. Repentance snd believing are ongoing dynamics of the Christian life and the foundation on which our discipleship rests. 

If penance points to the need for healing, then our need for healing takes us to Jesus Christ. 

I hope during these forty days you will reflect on this important question, what needs to be healed in me?  This question will ultimately imbue our penances with meaning, give vigor to our prayer, renew our efforts to be of greater service to others and bring us to deeper communion with Jesus, who is everything we look for, and more.

Msgr. Joe Celano