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by Gary Zimak
If you are expecting this article to provide suggestions for dropping some
pounds during the Lenten season, I’m afraid that you may be disappointed.
However, I strongly urge you to continue reading since the 'weight' loss that I
will address will allow you to shed some of the sins and earthly attachments
that keep you from getting closer to God!
Let’s face it, we are all weighed down to some extent by selfishness and
assorted vices. Given a choice, very few of us will choose suffering over
comfort. Many times, we don’t even realize how much we love to be comfortable.
Fortunately, the Church gives us the season of Lent to examine our souls and
remove the extra "weight" that keeps us apart from the Lord. Here are five
simple steps that you can use during Lent to identify and eliminate some of this
excess "poundage" from your life.
Determine what is weighing you down – For many of us, we aren’t even aware of
those things that weigh us down. The first step in this process is to use
prayerful meditation to discover the "weighty" issues. Take a look at how you
spend your time. Do your activities bring you closer to the Lord? Do you spend
an exorbitant amount of time on leisure activities? Are you holding grudges
against those who may have offended you? Do your daily actions set a good
example for your children, family, co-workers or fellow students? Are you in the
state of mortal sin? Have you fallen away from the Church? Answering these
questions honestly provides the foundation for the other steps.
Set realistic goals – You aren’t going to realistically eliminate all your
excess "weight" during the forty days of Lent, so don’t try! Obviously, you
should first concentrate on any mortal sins in your life. This can be addressed
by repenting and receiving the Sacrament of Confession. As a reminder, the
Church still teaches that any unforgiven mortal sins can result in the eternal
damnation of hell (CCC 1035), so these matters should be addressed immediately.
I’m not trying to frighten anyone, but rather to emphasize that it’s extremely
urgent to obtain forgiveness for mortal sins through sacramental Confession as
soon as possible! For those other faults and imperfections in your life, choose
a few that you’d like to eliminate. You may want to start with those that are
the easiest to correct or you may want to tackle the ones that cause the most
difficulty in your spiritual life. Don’t forget to ask the Holy Spirit to help
you with this process. He will point you in the right direction.
Substitute "healthy" alternatives – What do you do when you feel worried or
stressed? Watch television, eat, drink, go shopping? While none of these things
are intrinsically evil, perhaps there’s a "healthier" alternative. Rather than
using these activities to escape from our problems, we could instead turn to the
Lord in prayer. Praying for an enemy is a great alternative to getting angry or
holding a grudge. Going to daily Mass once or twice a week can be substituted
for an hour of sleep. Money that would have been spent on shopping can be
donated to charity. The gift of each new day is a precious gift from God and
choosing how we spend our time shouldn’t be taken lightly. Even if they aren’t
sinful, the elimination of useless activities can free up time that can be given
to God.
Don’t try to do it alone – God doesn’t expect us to execute this plan on our
own. He provides us with the gifts of the Eucharist and Confession to assist us
with our "weight" loss program. The sacraments provide us with the graces that
we need to achieve our goal. Don’t ignore them! If you find yourself committing
the same sin repeatedly, the graces received in the Eucharist and Confession can
give you the strength necessary to finally be victorious. Also, be sure to pray
and ask the Lord for His help. While it sounds obvious, it’s very easy to get so
caught up in our own efforts that we forget to involve God in the process.
Unfortunately, doing it alone just about guarantees failure. The Lord knows that
we are weak and therefore is always willing to offer His assistance.
Don’t give up – A wise priest once gave me some great advice. He explained that
if you are trying to overcome a particular sin or imperfection and fail 99 out
of 100 times, rejoice that you succeeded one time and don’t get discouraged. The
devil loves it when we become discouraged and will often use our failures to
convince us to quit. If you fail, repent, go to confession if necessary and keep
on going! From time to time, our human nature is going to get the best of us and
we will fail in our effort to please the Lord. Jesus addressed this situation in
the Garden when He told His sleeping disciples, "the spirit is indeed willing,
but the flesh is weak." (Matt 26:41) St. Paul also comments on the weakness of
the flesh when he states, "the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and
the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh; for these are opposed to each
other, to prevent you from doing what you would." (Gal 5:17) In other words,
don’t be surprised if you fail sometimes. The desire for comfort and pleasure
seeking can be very powerful, but with our persistence and God’s grace we can
win the battle.
I encourage you to try these steps during this Lenten season and see what a
difference they make in your life. Even if you fail at every attempt to shed
your excess "weight" (which I don’t think will happen), you still will have
tried and the Lord will appreciate and reward your effort. In the meantime, take
advantage of the gift of Lent to keep shedding those spiritual pounds. By doing
so, there’s a good chance you’ll celebrate Easter a little "lighter"!
About the Author:
Gary Zimak is the founder of Following The Truth Ministries (http://www.followingthetruth.com),
a lay apostolate created to assist Catholics in learning more about their Faith.
He is a regular guest on EWTN Radio’s "Son Rise Morning Show", Ave Maria Radio’s
"Catholic Connection with Teresa Tomeo" and appears frequently on several other
Catholic radio programs.
See Also:
Fasting is a Great Weapon for Christians
Lenten Reflections: LENT as FEAST and FAST
Lent is more than just a giving up. It is giving… developing a greater love towards God, self and others. LENT can be a FEAST AND A FAST.Study: Monthly fasting may help heart
A study in Utah, where the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints is based, found that people who skipped meals once a month were about 40 percent less likely to be diagnosed with clogged arteries than those who did not regularly fast.
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