February 14-15, 2026
Dear parishioners,
This Wednesday is, of course, Ash Wednesday. We come once again to the beginning of Lent, when we take on specific practices of prayer, fasting, and almsgiving. These practices are intended to help us fight against our own tendencies toward sin, and they are a reminder to us that being a Christian necessarily entails this spiritual battle, even after Lent is finished. In fact, the collect (opening prayer) that we will hear at Mass that day calls Lent a “campaign of Christian service.” It goes on to ask the Lord for his grace, “so that, as we take up battle against spiritual evils, we may be armed with weapons of self-restraint.” Indeed! Going deeper in the spiritual life can be an adventure, and is not for the faint of heart!
That being said, I want to offer a pre-emptive word of encouragement before we take on our penitential practices. Every year, I have people express to me that they are having “a bad Lent.” Often, they claim this is because they are not following their chosen penances as they hoped to. Other times, some claim that their Lent did not “turn out” the way they hoped it would. Still, others mention that they wished they had progressed further in the spiritual life, become more desirous for holiness, grown in their ability to hear Jesus’ voice, etc. However, my encouragement is simply that, when we complain about these items, they are often not as bad as we might be thinking. Here are some pragmatic considerations:
Be practical. As mentioned above, the general goal of penance is to make reparation for past sins, and to train our hearts to turn away from future temptations to sin. So, the more directly our penances can address the particular sins with which we struggle, the more likely it is to bear some practical fruit in our daily living of the spiritual life. Likewise, it is important to note that the presence of temptations in our lives is not a sign that we are not growing in the spiritual life. In fact, it is quite the opposite! Temptations are simply opportunities for us to put virtue into action. Temptations will always be present in this life, and the more we grow in our relationship with Christ, the more we are able to identify them when they arise.
Be realistic. While pledging to do a good deed for every single individual in the city might sound good on paper, it will always remain elusive. The practices we take on during the Lenten season should firstly be achievable. A “smaller” penance that can be completed is much better than a grand idea that cannot be. Secondly, our practices should fit our state and situation in life. Any practice that hinders the fulfillment of our responsibilities to our family or our place of employment should be avoided.
Challenge yourself. While we should be realistic, we should also try to stretch ourselves a little bit. Many people tell me they think their Lent is going badly because they find it difficult to keep up their penitential practices every day. But this can actually be a very good reality in the spiritual life! Remember- the spiritual life is a living relationship with Jesus, not a checklist of things to get done. Assuming that we remain sincere in our resolve, the struggle, and the daily reminder that we need to do penance, can still be beneficial for us because it can remind us of the reason we are doing penance in the first place- to clear our hearts from attachment to sin, and to draw closer to Jesus. After all, if penance were easy, we would not really need Lent in the first place. Jesus sees our efforts, and it is he who rewards us.
Lastly, do not gauge the quality of your Lenten experience on your own expectations for yourself. This might sound strange, because this is how we gauge all the other aspects of our life. However, when we come into Lent with specific expectations- where we need to arrive spiritually by Easter, how many of our sins need to be permanently surmounted by Easter, how easily and smoothly we think we should be hearing Jesus’ voice- these are not necessarily the ways that the Lord works in us through our penances. Put another way, it is not fair to us to expect ourselves to be masters of the spiritual life in forty days. It is much better and much more salutary for us to go into Lent without overly specified expectations. Our primary goal is giving greater glory to God by the way we live our lives, and to turn to him with our whole heart. After that, we let Jesus determine how our Lent proceeds.
Blessings,
Fr. Ammanniti
