Here are more thoughts of
‘good habits’ I might consider to begin cultivating:
Service: doing
someone else’s chores (service starts at home!), silence (you bet! ;-), visiting
someone who is sick, elderly or in prison; serving the poor at a soup kitchen, going
on a mission trip, talking to a homeless person, helping a neighbor.
‘Humanity’: going
for a walk or bike-ride, taking a well-deserved NAP, reading, exercising, taking a hot bath, gardening, taking a
drive to somewhere beautiful, watching a sunset, doing absolutely nothing for awhile & just ‘being’ w/o
‘doing’.
Sacrifices:
doing some activities you don’t like, getting up early to
pray, holding your tongue, repenting/Confession, accepting your cross, rejoicing
in adversity, fasting from foods or activities you like/are attached to, offering up extra prayers
or sufferings for the pope, president, or those near death; praying for the
Holy Souls.
Try to get to know yourself,
Jesus & others better, since knowledge naturally leads to greater love for God & others:
the ‘goal’
of Lent!
+Br. Philip Maria Allen, CFR
P.S. If ‘not
drinking coffee’ or ‘getting too little sleep’ makes you terribly irritable to others, maybe you should be
creative & try giving up something else
for Lent! ;-). Whatever doesn’t lead to a deeper love/gratitude for God &
others is not helpful, since fasting, prayer, almsgiving & sacrifices,
etc., are simply a means to this end.
It might be better to a pick a few
things you can manage so you’ll stick to
them!
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