Saint Matthew Parish issued the following announcement on Feb. 21.
A wise pastor preaching on Ash Wednesday reminded his parishioners that the old-fashioned Lenten practice of “giving up,” he emphasized, actually gives. Several parishioners, inspired by the homily, were eager to make an offering to the Lord, a sacrifice that would sanctify their 40 days of Lent.
One man gave up watching television, though he enjoyed professional sports of all kinds. One woman gave up smoking cigarettes, one of the toughest habits she’d ever broken. Another woman gave up shopping for clothes, though she was a clothes horse. Another man gave up coffee, though he had relied on morning espressos.
During Lent, the man who gave up television missed kickoffs and tip-offs, but he cracked the covers of books for years he had intended to read. The woman who gave up smoking noticed people puffing everyplace, but she practiced deepbreathing exercises whenever she craved a cigarette. For the man who gave up coffee, the smell of java brewing at work was almost more than he could bear. He marshaled his willpower, and he stuck to his sacrifice. The woman who gave up shopping looked longingly at catalogs, but did not order. Instead, she discovered beautiful, all but forgotten, barely worn sweaters at the bottoms of the towering stacks in her closet.
By Good Friday, the man who gave up television had come to enjoy reading quietly. The woman who gave up smoking breathed easier. She had her clothes cleaned, her house aired out and no longer could tolerate the smell of smoke. The man who gave up coffee found he slept better at night and woke up less jangled. And though he began to drink coffee again, he sometimes ordered decaf. The woman who gave up shopping had learned to distinguish want from need. She gathered piles of items she no longer wore, boxed them up and gave them to a charity. She could then see what she possessed because her cleaned out closets offered clarity.
The reign of God fills in mysteriously. What the steward sacrifices often winds up returning unforeseen rewards.
This article comes to you from Grace In Action (Our Sunday Visitor) courtesy of your parish or diocese.
Original source can be found here.
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