Are you hungry?

That is a fair question as we step into the Lenten season. Since I was a kid, the days approaching Lent made me think about giving up my favorite foods. You know, chips, chocolate, fast food, stuff like that. As a kid in the 70s and 80s, our Lenten fasting often consisted of abstinence from something we ate. Sure, giving up something we crave is a good experience in discipline and stamina. Still, if you’re like me, as soon as the clock hit midnight on Holy Saturday or bright and early before Easter Mass, I’d be digging for Reese’s eggs and cramming them in my mouth at lightning speed. I learned what it feels like to abstain from something I craved, something ‘I couldn’t have.’ I believed my discipline in fasting honored God. Sure, self-denial is a way to honor Him, but the guilt of breaking my fast kept me going. Once Lent ended, I entered the ‘after-fast’ period…which had me gorging on what I ‘missed’ for forty days.

I’m not knocking a fast from the worldly things we desire. I’m challenging us all to think beyond discipline and self-denial this Lent. I’m challenging myself and my faith family to lean in close and listen to God whisper to your heart. What is he saying? What is he asking you to do? Is there something weighing on you that perhaps you’ve not been able to carry alone? Maybe you’re holding on to hard feelings, hurt, or a grudge against someone or something. Maybe you’re afflicted with a physical illness or pain you can’t conquer alone. Or you’re battling with your own mind with anxiety, depression, or working through past trauma. Maybe you feel you don’t ‘fit in’ and struggle to secure a sense of belonging. You might be recovering from an addiction. Perhaps you’ve lost your job and feel like your identity is lost too. Or you could be grieving the loss of a loved one. Your pain is deep, and your burdens are heavy.

You might even think what’s weighing you down is too heavy to carry into the desert. Besides, the desert is hot and dry by day and cold and dark at night. Of course, I’m not talking about an actual desert but rather the proverbial desert in our hearts and minds. It can be relatively dry, cold, and dark there too. But there’s a light for us that never burns out. That is, of course, the light of Jesus Christ—the light of His Salvation and Saving Grace. You see, He went into the actual desert for us. He carried our sins, pain, afflictions, hurts, and burdens.

He knows what we hunger and thirst for. He knows where we are broken and ashamed. He knows because He is already there, waiting for us to look up, become open, stay with Him, and let Him, our Loving Father, continually save us from everything this world throws our way. He’s not asking us to go into the desert. He’s asking us to come to Him and sit at the foot of the Cross. Jesus wants nothing more than for us to be with Him. To rely on Him and to give up the reins we so desperately try to hold within our grasp, hanging on with our fists clenched. He is telling us to LET GO.

So, as we enter this Lenten season, ask yourself what you are really craving. What is the source of our hunger and thirst? If we dig deep into our souls and allow our vulnerable hearts to speak, I trust we’re not really craving peanut butter cups. We long for something eternal, not swallowed in two or three bites. We are craving connection. We crave acceptance and love. I am not saying we should not fast this Lent. But I am challenging us all to enter this Lenten season with an open heart and a profound awareness about ourselves. Take the time to understand more clearly where you want to grow and heal. If you plan to fast this Lent, try fasting from your comfort zone. Step out of your box and do something that brings you closer to Christ and His people. Perhaps join a Bible Study or a church ministry. Look for ways to join others in fellowship. We are all on this journey together.

If quiet, alone time is more for you, spend each week in Adoration or commit to a Holy Hour. Attend daily Mass. Find a good podcast, or book, or journal your thoughts and prayers. There are numerous ways you can find Christ in His church and people. You don’t have to go hungry this Lent.

God Bless You, a sister in Christ

When you look at the Crucifix, you understand how much Jesus loved you then; when you look at the Sacred Host, you understand how much Jesus loves you now.—Mother Teresa of Calcutta.

XO,

Rachael