The Best-Laid Plans

The best-laid plans of mice and men often go awry. We layout the best plans for our Lenten journey. We seek to approach Easter having undergone a well thought out and executed routine of prayer, fasting, and almsgiving.

If you are like me, this does not always go as planned. In fact, you may have completely fallen off of your well-laid plans and think your Lent is over. What if you only have a week left? What if you have a month left? What if it is literally the day after Ash Wednesday? What happens when Lent goes wrong?

First of all, we have to get this phrase out of our vocabulary. Lent cannot go wrong. Lent is there as a gift from God to restore harmony within our souls. It can also establish peace and harmony in our soul if it was lacking to begin with.

Our Lenten penances are built upon prayer, fasting, and almsgiving. It is important to discern how to exercise these during Lent (and beyond), but it is never too late during Lent to add or subtract practices. First, we need to examine why we are doing these penances.

Why Do We Do Penances?

Lenten practices heighten our awareness of God and allow God’s grace to penetrate our heights and minds more readily. So, it is important to be consistent. This is where most folks fall off the plan and stay off the plan. If we waver in our Lenten practices, there are three options: abandon course, alter course, or get back on course.

Three Options – Abandon, Alter, Acknowledge

Abandoning course is not an option for the Christian. No matter how difficult like gets and no matter how much we are suffering, Christ is there to share the burden. He does not tell us, “Be complacent and you will be happy.” Instead, He tells us to take up our cross, follow Him, and live the radical life of the Beatitudes.

We can alter course slightly. We can perhaps work on only a few disciples and try to really commit to them before adding more. The spirit is often willing, but the flesh is weak. This is not an excuse to stop pressing on. Instead, it is the realization that we should challenge ourselves, but we should do so by entering by the narrow stream taking one step at a time, rather than diving headlong into the ocean.

The third option is actually the first one to try. We must acknowledge where we have not lived up to our commitments. Instead of letting this define our Lent or cause us to despair, we simply get back on course. We ask God for the grace to begin again.

The Welcome at Every Start

Proverbs 24:16 says this: “… for a righteous man falls seven times, and rises again; but the wicked are overthrown by calamity (Proverbs 24:16).” This very wise teaching tells us that the Christian life is a long-distance run, not a short sprint. We may fall several times (read: thousands of times), but we are always invited by God’s grace to get back up and try again.

There is a beautiful line in the Mumford and Sons song “Roll Away Your Stone” that encapsulates this reality. I think it also works well for a spiritual reminder during Lent and for our entire lives, really. The line goes like this: “It’s not the long walk home that will change this heart, but the welcome I receive with every start.”

It is inevitable that we will fall. It is part of our fallen human nature to be inclined to sin, to be weaker than we want to be, and to fail. However, God never fails. He never fails in extending His hand to lift us back up and get us back on course. Never be discouraged if you are clinging to God. And if you are distracted for a time, then simply allow God’s grace to give you a renewed focus.

Lent Resources

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  What I Wish I Knew About Dating A Non-Catholic
  There are Catholics who marry Catholics and who live a wonderful life. There are Catholics who marry Catholics who end up in divorce. There are Catholics who marry non-Catholics who lose their faith. And there are Catholics who marry non-Catholics whose spouses convert and live happily ever after.  All this is to say; every situation… Read more: What I Wish I Knew About Dating A Non-Catholic
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  This Is Why You Should Pray For Your Priest
  For many people, the priest is the one whom people go to for their spiritual needs, for prayer requests, for Mass offerings, and other sacraments. Have you ever wondered how a priest is sustained spiritually for the work they do? Should we be praying for a priest as we pray for other people, like our… Read more: This Is Why You Should Pray For Your Priest
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  An Inside Look At What It’s Like To Film A Catholic Movie About A Saint
  On one of the last chilly mornings of October, I received a text from a producer friend of mine, telling me that there was a an opportunity to be part of the crew for a film called “Triumph of the Heart.” For someone laying upside down on their bed, sponging fallen nutella off their sweatshirt… Read more: An Inside Look At What It’s Like To Film A Catholic Movie About A Saint
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  400-Year-Old Marian Prophecies About Our Age
  In our age of wars, transgenderism, abortion up till birth in various nations, natural and moral calamities and a host of other seemingly insurmountable problems, sometimes it looks as if the world has gone barking mad. Many of us remember times that were much more tranquil not so long ago. But take heart. Our Lady… Read more: 400-Year-Old Marian Prophecies About Our Age
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  It’s Time For Catholics To Get Real About Sex
  Catholic Sexual Teaching – An Invitation to Reality Lust and Counterfeit Sexuality We live in a throw-away society. Fast food and plastic plates — our culture is full of the cheap and easy. Unfortunately, this mentality bleeds into our sexuality. America is obsessed with sexual counterfeits. From the college hook-up culture to pornography to strip… Read more: It’s Time For Catholics To Get Real About Sex

Related content:

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