Lent 2.0

By Casey Sprehe

At the beginning of Lent, I wrote this (Approaching the desert) article. A month into Lent, I’ve already forgotten my own words.

God surely did pick my Lent for me. Someone in my house of 6 has been sick since Lent started. Physical and emotional sickness has been at an all-time high for us. Not one day has passed where we were batting 1,000. And I’ve kicked and scream the. whole. way.

These are the honest thoughts and words that have flowed from me recently:

I can’t get up with a sick kid, I have to get up extra early to get my Lenten prayers in!

Are you seriously awake before 6:30? How am I going to get my office work done?

If my people would just get healthy, we could make it to daily Mass and Stations of the Cross on Friday.

This week, however, I was reminded of a Marian theme from St. Louis De Montfort’s consecration: By giving Mary our all and our yes, she makes our crosses sweeter. We won’t have less crosses being devoted to Mary, but she makes them sweet for her children.

Just like Mary Poppins, a spoonful of sugar makes the medicine go down. My medicines, my crosses in life are heavy. But they are heavier because I’m weighing them down in my own resistance. Ouch!

After reflecting, I made a conscious decision to put down my Lenten agenda, lean into the one God is giving me and offer it to Mary for help. Honestly, a few days in, my crosses don’t feel as heavy.

I’m more focused on the Lent God has before me and there’s already less friction in my family.