By Artur Suski, S.J.
As we begin Lent, we ask ourselves the
question: what shall I give up for Lent? Or perhaps the flip side of
the coin: what special thing shall I do during Lent? Lent is a time
to ‘pick up the slack’ when it comes to our habits: we either
want to work on purging those that get in the way of our relationship
with God as well as our fellow brothers and sisters, or on developing
those that help these relationships. This is the goal, but are we
always aware of this goal when we choose our Lenten commitments? Do
we become so absorbed by our commitments that we fail to respond to
others’ needs and be generous with our time and energy? Worse yet,
our commitments may help fuel a certain spiritual pride. A while back
I heard a ‘parable’ addressing this very topic, called “The
Monk and His Bowl”. It goes something like this:
Lent was approaching and a very
pious monk was trying to decide on what sorts of penances he would do
in this Lenten Season. He dreamt of doing heroic deeds of penance to
please the Lord. As any monk would do, he put the matter to the Lord
in prayer: “Lord, I desire to do great things for you this Lent. I
want to be holy and do great acts of penance. What do you want me to
do this Lent?”
After a moment of silence, the monk
heard a voice, saying: “My dear child, this Lent you will take a
bowl of water, fill it to the rim, and place it on your head.
Everywhere you go you shall keep it on your head, though you are not
to spill even a drop of its water!” Finally, a challenge worthy of
me, thought the monk. “Yes, Lord,” answered the monk, “I will
do this great deed during Lent.”
