Editor’s Note: This is the last in a series of columns intended to help prepare our hearts for the season of Lent.
It is hard to believe that Lent is almost here. Every year, it seems to take us by surprise. One moment we are resting after the busy Christmas season, and the next, it’s Ash Wednesday.
The Church doesn’t try to rush us. Instead, the Church simply invites us to return to God. But for many people, that invitation has begun to feel like a chore, and if we are being honest, Lent has become exhausting.
Year after year, we start the season with great goals. We choose something to give up and set big plans for prayer. But by the second or third week, life gets in the way – our schedules fill up, the kids get sick, work gets stressful. Slowly, we lose our focus. Before we know it, we feel guilty for falling behind, and by Easter morning, many of us feel frustrated realizing we are no closer to Jesus than when we started. Those past Lenten commitments failed because your plan was too much.
When the Office of Communications first started working on Journal Through Lent, we noticed something important. While many Lenten programs offer rich resources with solid theology, they can also seem very complicated and leave you feeling as though you need a college degree in theology just to understand. Lent already asks us to make sacrifices – we shouldn’t make it even more difficult by giving people expectations that feel impossible to keep.
That’s why in creating Journal Through Lent – our series of short, daily video reflections with local clergy and religious and accompanying journal – we spent months looking over every single word. We would stop after each recording or edit to ask a tough question: Can a busy parent do this before the kids wake up? Can someone focus during a short lunch break? If the answer was no, we cut it and started over again. We rewrote every section many times, learning along the way that being clear is one of the kindest things you can offer someone who is busy.
Even so, we had our own moments of doubt. We looked at other Lenten books that are thick and full of long readings; compared to those, Journal Through Lent seemed small. It offers a short video and one question a day to bring to your journal. We worried that people might think it was not enough, or question whether something so simple could help them grow closer to Jesus.
The answer came when we looked at how people live their digital lives. We realized that a long video you never finish can’t help you, but a 90-second video you actually watch? That can change your whole day, your whole week, your whole Lent. We learned that finishing a small goal is better than failing at a big one. You don’t need hours of quiet time to grow spiritually; you just need to show up for a few minutes every single day.
This year, your Lent can end differently. When Easter morning arrives, you will not feel like you failed. You will wake up knowing you stayed with it and grew closer to Jesus. You will hold a journal in your hands with 40 days of your own thoughts, prayers and conversations with God. You will be able to see where Jesus met you in the middle of your busy life.
This year, have a Lent you can keep up with. Visit CamdenDiocese.org/lent to sign up for free today, and begin this Lent with an invitation to help you return to God.
John Kalitz is the digital media manager for the Diocese of Camden.
Past Lent Journal Columns
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