Not A Post About Lent

Lent is officially underway.  I pray yours is going well!

I’m not going to tell you what I’m doing for lent this year, and I’m going to forgo the obligatory post detailing a bunch of tips for your lent.  It’s not because I don’t care about your soul (I really do!); it’s because if you’re anything like me, the rise of social media has meant that for the past couple of weeks your Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram feeds have all been full of well meaning tips on how to make this the “BEST LENT EVER!!!!”

It’s all just a little too overwhelming for me.  One article tells me it’s no longer enough to just give something up.  Another gives me a forty-day guide for spiritual growth, and by the end of my day of reading all of these tips, I’ve made 60 impractical resolutions and decided I’m taking up residence in my church’s adoration chapel until Easter.  And that’s only until I see the next three articles that go up tomorrow.

I get that Lent’s not about “succeeding,” but it is about your relationship with Jesus.  So the only advice you’re getting from me this year is to do what Jesus wants you to do.  It may not be the same as what “so-and-so” suggests, even if “so-and-so” is the holiest person you know.

Also, if you haven’t seen this yet, Stephen Colbert defended the Real Presence of the Eucharist on the Colbert Report this week.  Even though I think it’s lame that he had to plug a stupid book to do so, it’s still pretty good stuff.