There's Still Time

I used to be a Lenten ninja. I went to daily mass, increased my prayer life, and gave up the hardest things I could think of. These last few years I have been a Lenten weenie. I always look forward to the Church's rich seasons and the spiritual growth they will bring. I start out on Ash Wednesday ready to sleep on a rock and eat nothing but bread and water. Usually I am true to my fast until...ohhh...the Monday after Ash Wednesday. And then temptation comes and I give in. "Oh, it's just a bite of ice cream. You have been doing so well sacrificing this far." Or, "Well, Saturday is almost Sunday, and Sunday is a day of rest, so it's probably ok to break my fast." And by Easter I realize I have not had a very fruitful or sacrificial Lent and I feel terrible. I spent my time in the desert giving in to Satan's lies and temptations instead of with Christ telling him to back off.

Any other year I would have come to holy week and called it good enough. I would tell myself Lent was over and it was no use sacrificing my prescribed things because I had failed so many times in the past. But not this Lent. There is still Holy Week. And even if I say yes to Christ this one week out of the Lenten season, it is one week I am saying no to Satan. This week I will try my hardest to be a Lenten ninja and sacrifice the little pleasures in life that I have been indulging in these past thirty something days. I know these things that I set out to give up on Ash Wednesday are only things that take up a place in my heart where Christ should be. But there is still time to let him in...and I know He is waiting.