I'm just starting it for the first time Kristen, and I'm worried I'm not going to like it and I'm going to be a total loser! So much pressure for some reason.
Christy I love your contributions to the internet - we need you xD It's a fine line with Lent - since we are each so different - for those of us obsessed with lists/getting it done, etc, we can tend to focus on the fasting and all the 'stuff' and actually end up rarely thinking about God. It is actually quite a sacrifice to not get all new year's iron man when it comes to Lent for me, ha.
But you're absolutely right that the spirit of the season stays exactly the same. I always say to people that I converted quite specifically to Catholicism, v another denomination, because of the 'tough love' inherent in the Church's teachings - I really NEEDED to be told 'yes this is hard for you but that doesn't matter - it's the right thing to do and you have to try.' What a needed message for the world, huh?
Enjoy the very important and well-deserved recoup time this weekend!
You're very kind, Katie, and put my bossing people around negatively in such a positive light! I guess I just want us to see looking at the hard, difficult, and sinful in a healthy way. In a way that doesn't mean you're being self-destructive, but in a way that calls us to real repentance. Of course it looks differently for each and every person, really, I'm just tired of the self-helpy way we dismiss hard things because our lives are already hard. Wow, this comment just should have been the post.
Really enjoyed true grit as well! A few friends couldn’t get into it. I think watching the John Wayne classic years before helped. I couldn’t stand it at the time; John Wayne was adorable as Rooster yet I thought the actress playing Mattie was annoying. After I read it and gave the movie a second watch, she is annoying!!! 😂 In all the best ways! They played Rooster and Mattie perfectly and picturing him as I read was enjoyable.
Haha, she was annoying. I find Hailee Steinfeld(is that her name?) in the new version much better. I think she is supposed to be a somewhat annoying character though, and that doesn't mean she's also not completely hilarious and great!
True about Lent! It's there for a reason. I think there's a ton of temptation surrounding its observance these days and this manifests itself differently for different people. For those prone to scrupulosity and self-hatred, it needs to be an exercise in trust and mercy; for those prone to distraction and self-indulgence, it needs to be a recentering on God through self-denial.
One of my friends said to me once that some pregnant women need to be reminded NOT to fast during Lent and others need to be reminded that they DO still need to do some sort of penance during Lent!
Also: so glad you are a fan of Nadya's work (and that you liked the H&F piece)! Did you see her Christianity Today piece this week about violence/genocide? It was so enlightening.
Sorry I never responded to this one Dixie, I don't know why I let responding to people's kind and precious comments become the last thing on my list.
I guess, I want us to approach lent in a healthy way. Which means that we don't make sacrifice self-destructive, but truly sacrificial. And I'm just personally annoyed when we make the cop-out of "but our lives are really hard" a way to make the real meaning and time of lent non-important. This comment could have been the whole post.
Everything on Substack comes only after IRL things :) That's rightly ordered! And responding to comments isn't always easy.
I agree with you. The idea that sacrifice is inappropriate because life already hard is not a good one. Deliberate sacrifice has a real spiritual purpose as well as (often) a practical one. We also need opportunities to learn how to handle suffering and to direct our suffering toward good, unite it with the Cross, trust God within it, etc. If we abandon penance, we will be powerless before the suffering that we do not choose.
This was fun--and thank you for the kind shoutout, Christy!
Thank YOU for being Dr. Nadya Williams! Obviously, a big fan. A big dorky fan.
The Lenten kick in the pants I needed! Also, it reminded me of A Severe Mercy, which I just finished. A wonderful book for Lent
I'm just starting it for the first time Kristen, and I'm worried I'm not going to like it and I'm going to be a total loser! So much pressure for some reason.
Christy I love your contributions to the internet - we need you xD It's a fine line with Lent - since we are each so different - for those of us obsessed with lists/getting it done, etc, we can tend to focus on the fasting and all the 'stuff' and actually end up rarely thinking about God. It is actually quite a sacrifice to not get all new year's iron man when it comes to Lent for me, ha.
But you're absolutely right that the spirit of the season stays exactly the same. I always say to people that I converted quite specifically to Catholicism, v another denomination, because of the 'tough love' inherent in the Church's teachings - I really NEEDED to be told 'yes this is hard for you but that doesn't matter - it's the right thing to do and you have to try.' What a needed message for the world, huh?
Enjoy the very important and well-deserved recoup time this weekend!
You're very kind, Katie, and put my bossing people around negatively in such a positive light! I guess I just want us to see looking at the hard, difficult, and sinful in a healthy way. In a way that doesn't mean you're being self-destructive, but in a way that calls us to real repentance. Of course it looks differently for each and every person, really, I'm just tired of the self-helpy way we dismiss hard things because our lives are already hard. Wow, this comment just should have been the post.
Precisely what I need to read to uplift my spirit for this beautiful Lenten season
As Jesum per Mariam.
Thank you, that's so nice to hear.
Thanks… just saw my typo…it should be …Ad Jesum per Mariam/ ToJesus thru Mary
Really enjoyed true grit as well! A few friends couldn’t get into it. I think watching the John Wayne classic years before helped. I couldn’t stand it at the time; John Wayne was adorable as Rooster yet I thought the actress playing Mattie was annoying. After I read it and gave the movie a second watch, she is annoying!!! 😂 In all the best ways! They played Rooster and Mattie perfectly and picturing him as I read was enjoyable.
Haha, she was annoying. I find Hailee Steinfeld(is that her name?) in the new version much better. I think she is supposed to be a somewhat annoying character though, and that doesn't mean she's also not completely hilarious and great!
True about Lent! It's there for a reason. I think there's a ton of temptation surrounding its observance these days and this manifests itself differently for different people. For those prone to scrupulosity and self-hatred, it needs to be an exercise in trust and mercy; for those prone to distraction and self-indulgence, it needs to be a recentering on God through self-denial.
One of my friends said to me once that some pregnant women need to be reminded NOT to fast during Lent and others need to be reminded that they DO still need to do some sort of penance during Lent!
Also: so glad you are a fan of Nadya's work (and that you liked the H&F piece)! Did you see her Christianity Today piece this week about violence/genocide? It was so enlightening.
Sorry I never responded to this one Dixie, I don't know why I let responding to people's kind and precious comments become the last thing on my list.
I guess, I want us to approach lent in a healthy way. Which means that we don't make sacrifice self-destructive, but truly sacrificial. And I'm just personally annoyed when we make the cop-out of "but our lives are really hard" a way to make the real meaning and time of lent non-important. This comment could have been the whole post.
Everything on Substack comes only after IRL things :) That's rightly ordered! And responding to comments isn't always easy.
I agree with you. The idea that sacrifice is inappropriate because life already hard is not a good one. Deliberate sacrifice has a real spiritual purpose as well as (often) a practical one. We also need opportunities to learn how to handle suffering and to direct our suffering toward good, unite it with the Cross, trust God within it, etc. If we abandon penance, we will be powerless before the suffering that we do not choose.