Extracts from an article by Matt Charbonneau
Must Lent be a period of sadness?
Should all this fasting, giving of self to others and prayer time be a cause for pain?
Much like a diet aims to improve one’s health, Lent is observed in order to help restore us as the pure and perfect creations we were made to be by our Almighty Creator.
With this in mind, why would anyone feel like Lent is to be a time of dejection or melancholy?
We can view Lent as a sort of training camp rather than a boot camp. While there will be exercise and a focus on fundamentals, such application is designed to build us, not punish us.
Sure, forty days might seem like a long time to go without chocolate and we could find it challenging to set aside prayer time with that consistency. Yet the benefits of filling ourselves with Christ far outweigh the inconvenience of such struggles.
Rather than walking around depressed like Eeyore from the Winnie the Pooh series, why not jump and spring like Tigger?
“Lent is spiritual spring training - we get the flab out, we get the sins out. Our fight is not against the Red Sox or the Cardinals; it’s against Satan and sin and selfishness.”
Cardinal Timothy Dolan, Ash Wednesday 2012, St Patrick’s Cathedral, New York
Matt Charbonneau strives to demonstrate the powerful presence and unconditional love of God in everyday life. He lives in Ottawa with his wife, their two sons and a daughter.