To Everything, There is a Season...

...and a time for every matter under heaven:

A time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up what is planted; A time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up; A time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance; A time to throw away stones, and a time to gather stones together; a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing; A time to seek, and a time to lose; a time to keep, and a time to throw away; A time to tear, and a time to sew; a time to keep silence, and a time to speak; A time to love, and a time to hate; a time for war, and a time for peace.
~~Ecclesiastes 3:1-8




Today is the start of Lent; Ash Wednesday, and I was thinking about what I was going to do during Lent. I've found what I want to do, but as I was thinking about it, I thought about the fact that I didn't really make any New Year Resolutions. I did this consciously mainly because the Resolutions I make never get accomplished, or at least get accomplished a little, but not to the extent I want them to go.

Back to the moment. It wasn't until college that I figured out Lent is a lot more than repenting for our sins and the sins of the world. For those who don't know (and that's a lot of you out there), as a Catholic, during Lent I have to PRAY, FAST, and GIVE ALMS. In English that means I have to figure out something to pray about or just plain pray more than normal, fast, or give up something that I enjoy but do not need, and give alms, meaning giving something back to those less fortunate. All of this has to be in secret, meaning, I have to look like I'm not in repentance while I'm doing these things.

Now I know what comes to my mind first is that I'm writing a blog about what I'm going to do during Lent, and it sounds a bit hypocritical. However, what I've stated, anyone can go look up on any Catholic site about Lent and read what I just wrote, so I don't think I'm going to get a lightning bolt thrown down at me because I revealed the practices of Lent.

Anyway, I feel that my Lenten Resolutions hold more weight for me because it literally forces me (with a bit of Catholic guilt and a priest on campus) to go through forty days of changes. And usually, these changes stick throughout the rest of the year because I practice it everyday and it's on my mind.

Lent is all about reconciling with God. I'm a sinner, and shouldn't even deserve what He gives me every single day. Because of this, I have to repent. The entry is titled the way it was because everything has a season, that includes repentance and atonement.

Now is just my time; my time to atone and Easter will be a time to rejoice.