Since the early days of the Church, Christians have observed
a special time to “prepare” for Jesus’, death and Resurrection.
Today, these 40 days prior to the Resurrection (Easter) are
called Lent. It is a time of penance to
remember Christ’s sufferings.
To prepare, some Christians give up material items, a bad
habit or food during Lent. The purpose
of this practice is to let go of worldly things and realize what is truly
important in our lives. As a result, we
are able to lead a better life.
But this practice isn’t always as fulfilling as other
options. Self-denial during Lent isn’t
wrong, but in doing this, people frequently lose the true focus of the season.
For example, giving up certain foods can be a great Lenten
sacrifice if the intention is right.
But, for a lot of people, the intention is not right. The truth is, it’s common to hear a friend
say how much weight she’s lost so far in Lent.
In an appearance-centered society, it becomes too easy to focus on
losing weight rather than Christ’s suffering.
Some people argue that losing weight during Lent is not a
wrong intention because it makes us feel better and, therefore, is
spiritual. But the purpose of giving up
foods is not just so we feel good about ourselves, it is so we see the reality
of life and what is important.
Solely focusing on losing weight during Lent is
selfish. The reason for Lent is
Christ’s unselfish sacrifice of His life for our sins. Shouldn’t our sacrifice during Lent also be unselfish?
Another issue is making sure we do our sacrifice
humbly. The sacrifice doesn’t need to
be a public affair but a simple act between God and us. It is not appropriate to make a big fuss
about our sacrifice so everyone around can admire us.
If it is too difficult not to focus on personal
gratification, then there are other options to prepare ourselves for
Easter. Instead of giving up things, we
can take on things like waking up five minutes earlier every day to say a
prayer.
We can also focus on outward sacrifice and help others
instead of ourselves through almsgiving or random acts of kindness.
Whatever is done to prepare for Easter must be done with the
right intentions. We cannot prepare by
losing weight because it doesn’t allow us to grow spiritually and realize
Christ’s sacrifice.