LOVE is patient, love is kind. It is not jealous, it is not pompous, it is not inflated, it is not rude, it does not seek its own interests, it is not quick-tempered, it does not brood over injury, it does not rejoice over wrongdoing but rejoices with the truth. It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. (1 Cor. 13:4-7)
When I read and meditate on this passage of the Bible, it makes me realize how much I need to work on loving better my husband, children, friends and people around me. It motivates me to love more and better, just like Christ did. It seems impossible sometimes, humanly speaking, but with God’s grace, ALL is possible. As Saint Paul says, “I am weak but with God I am strong”. Due to original sin we lost many graces, however with Jesus redeeming us, we got more graces than what we lost from original sin. God is ready to give us all the graces we need, we just have to ASK for them and BELIEVE.
This year we celebrate Valentine’s Day (even though we can think it is a worldly event… it is because of the Catholic Church that we celebrate this amazing Saint) in the same month as Lent. St. Valentine is the one that defended the sacrament of Marriage. He was imprisoned for marrying Christian couples and aiding Christians who were persecuted by Claudius in Rome. St. Valentine was a martyr, because he defended the Christian faith.
It seems like Lent sneaks up on us. However, I believe God does that on purpose to evaluate how our LOVE is and to be able to LOVE more and better. Without God’s LOVEwe are nothing… we all long for this true and pure Love as we were created out of Love to Love.
Lent is a time when God gives us the chance to get closer to Him, to fall in love with Him more, to build that love relationship with Him. It is not about the sacrifice itself nor the opportunity to give what we want to offer up to God, but rather, it is the opportunity to offer what God wants from us. It is all about Him, not us. How can we as individuals and as a family do this? We must work on having a pure heart, because the purer the heart the more we are able to see and experience Christ. “Blessed are the pure of heart, for they shall see God (Mt 5 1-12).”
Now, you don’t have to go completely out of your way to do these things. Today, while I was making lunch for the day, plus dinner and lunch for the next day ( as I was going to be away for the day ) I was trying really hard to do it with a spirit of love, although part of me inside was saying “ I have so much to do and I am still in the kitchen…plus I don’t like to cook.” I was battling with these thoughts while my kids were practicing singing the song they had to memorize for their Faith and History contest on the Corporal Works of Mercy. They are: “give food to the hungry, drink to the thirsty, clothe the naked etc…” God made me realize that is exactly what I was doing — I was feeding the hungry. The Holy Spirit helped me to realize that inside my house I am doing the corporal acts of mercy. Of course, I am not suggesting to not do them outside of your house as well, but this inspiration gave me peace that I was doing just what God was asking of me. Often we just need to see what is in front of us as God is just right there.
As for myself, instead of fasting from food or just from food, I need to fast from yelling at my husband. If I can really achieve this, with God’s grace, that will be enough for me; as I know that the man I love the most and the one that God has given to me as my mate, does not need to be yelled at. On the contrary I will endeavor to speak to him with kindness.
Here are a few tips for Lent that I would like to share with you that have helped our family live a better Lent: in a very simple way- you can see the pics I took.
- The kids color the Ways of the Cross and then we put them in the hall of the house, where it reminds us of Lent and where we pray them together on Fridays.
- We also have a crown of thrones, made of clay, with toothpicks (representing the thrones) in it. When we do an act of charity towards others, we take a toothpick out until all the thrones are gone, and then we will be ready for Easter!
- I get together with each of my children, one on one, to do the Lent Calendar ( you can find the Lent Calendar in the home page of our website) . It is a time we can bond with each other and help them to discern what God is asking of them. They realize the importance of doing this for the love of God, for the relationship between them and Jesus ... it is not the Sacrifice itself but rather, it is their loving relationship with God.
I hope these thoughts help you and your family.. If you have any other ideas or tips that you would like to share with us, please do so!
I pray and hope that during this Lent each one of you receives many graces from Our Lord.