Loading...
Loading...
Click here if you don’t see subscription options
The Ignatian Educator

What is Your Lenten Resolution?

Matt EmersonFebruary 26, 2015
Larry Rodwell receives ashes from Father Paul Bonacci during an Ash Wednesday Mass at St. Pius X Church in Rochester, N.Y., Feb. 18. Ash Wednesday marks the start of Lent. (CNS photo/Mike Crupi, Catholic Courier)

What is your Lenten resolution or undertaking? Are you giving something up or taking something on? Does it involve food or drink? Are you making any particularly elaborate efforts to give alms, pray, and fast? 

I would appreciate reader input. I feel as though my Lenten promises are too routine, or too unimaginative. I'm hoping some crowdsourcing will freshen up my spiritual practice. Thank you in advance!

Show Comments (
2
)
Comments are automatically closed two weeks after an article's initial publication. See our comments policy for more.
Leslie McCaslin
10 years 2 months ago
I'm so glad I'm not the only one in a Lent rut! I gave up on giving up food or beverages because it was turning into more of a New Year's Resolution part 2, rather than a Lenten Devotion. This year I took up journaling about my Lent Journey, and while I haven't missed any days, and I'm doing spiritual readings and prayer (with charitable works and almsgiving) I'm not having any big spiritual aha! But maybe that's not what it's about. Maybe it's just about keeping this small promise, which to be perfectly honest, doesn't feel particularly sacrificial. Keeping this small promise may build me up to be able to keep the big ones too.
Bruce Snowden
10 years 2 months ago
Matt, A bit late but responding to your Lenten question, how about "giving in" rather than "giving up," meaning it's natural to want to win every time, so how about letting the "other person" maybe your wife, a student, anyone, "win" that argument. Who says we have to "win" all the time? "HUM" the happy tune of H-U-M-ility - for Lent guaranteeing for Easter the "empty tomb" of arrogance be it ever so subtle, so disguised, often with the super-assurance that "Daddy" ( however "Daddy" is shaped) knows best.

Most popular

1
Pope Leo to diplomats: The church will always speak truth and work for justice
Gerard O’Connell
2
Zoom Event: Pope Leo XIV, Conclave Debrief and What’s Next for the Church
America Staff
3
Pope Leo XIV’s installation Mass: A new beginning rooted in tradition
Justin McLellan – Catholic News Service
4
Jesuit superior general reaffirms Jesuits’ availability to Pope Leo XIV
Noah Banasiewicz, S.J.
5
The Trump administration fast-tracked South African refugees into the U.S. What will it mean for other suffering groups?
Kevin Clarke

Your source for jobs, books, retreats, and much more.

Executive Director – Jesuit Renewal Center for People on the Margins
Jobs
Serve as a Bethlehem Farm Caretaker in Beautiful West Virginia
Volunteer / Vocation
Loyola on the Potomac, A Jesuit Retreat House
Retreat Houses, Retreats
Interspiritual Contemplative Day of Reflection at Holy Family Retreat Center – In Person or Online
Retreats
All My Eyes See: The Artistic Vocation of Fr. William Hart McNichols
Books
See all Classifieds

The latest from america

Spanish Legionnaires carry a large image of the crucified Christ in the rain April 18, 2019, outside a church in Málaga, Spain, during a Holy Week ceremony. (CNS photo/Jon Nazca, Reuters)
Spain’s Holy Week confraternities celebrate the Jubilee year in Rome
Spain’s confraternities often make headlines in the foreign press as their Holy Week processions have become a tourist attraction, demonstrating the complex reality of their fame.
Bridget RyderMay 16, 2025
Jesuit superior general reaffirms Jesuits’ availability to Pope Leo XIV
Beyond a simple affirmation of the pope’s authority, the letter by Arturo Sosa, S.J., called attention to its particular place of importance in the life of the Jesuits.
Noah Banasiewicz, S.J.May 16, 2025
A destroyed St. Matthew Church is seen June 27, 2022, in the village of Daw Ngay Ku, Myanmar, in eastern Kayah state. Myanmar’s military junta was accused of blowing up the Catholic church with landmines and torching it. A more recent church attack blamed on the junta was the burning down of St. Patrick Cathedral in strife-torn northern Kachin state on March 16, 2025, the eve of the revered saint's feast. (OSV News photo/courtesy Amnesty International)
The Trump administration fast-tracked South African refugees into the U.S. What will it mean for other suffering groups?
“I’m glad that there are people still coming through,” Zomi leader Francis Kham says, but refugee resettlement “should be extended to everyone that’s really [facing] the same discrimination.”
Kevin ClarkeMay 16, 2025
Zoom Event: Pope Leo XIV, Conclave Debrief and What’s Next for the Church
Tuesday, May 20th at 5:30pm ET: Featuring Sam Sawyer, S.J., James Martin, S.J., Colleen Dulle and Sebastian Gomes.
America StaffMay 16, 2025