"Have Your Best Lent Ever:
A Step-by-Step Guide to
Lenten and Easter Fulfillment"

I can guarantee you the best lent you've ever had.

You've heard about lent. It's supposed to be hard. We're supposed to "give up stuff." The parish offers extra activities on weeknights. Still, sometimes it's hard to figure out what to do or why we're doing it.

You want a good lent? Let me show you how.

Step One: Self-assessment. Sit yourself down, pen & paper in hand and take stock of yourself. Rate yourself on a scale of one to ten on these questions:

* How well do I take care of my physical health?
* How's my relationship with my family?
* How's my relationship with God?
* How's my job satisfaction?
* How's my participation in parish life?
* How happy am I?

You may add other questions if you want.

Now make some notations. Where are you high? Where are you low? Why? If you could change some things in your life, what would they be?

Now your pump is primed, you're ready for to move on.

Step Two: Activities. Choose your activities for lent this year. The activities you choose should help you move your numbers higher up the scale. Since this is lent, you may group your activities under three traditional tasks. Get another sheet of paper and make three columns with these headings: "Almsgiving", "Prayer", and "Fasting". A successful lent is like sitting on a three-legged barstool. If one or two legs are missing, you'll topple whether or not you're drinking at the bar. Make resolutions in all three categories.

Before you start filling in the blanks, get out your bible. Turn to Matthew and read chapter 6, verses 1-16. Jesus gives you some advice on all three categories. Just in case his suggestions aren't enough, I thought I'd add a few ideas of my own.

* Almsgiving. This means charity toward others. It's a big category. You can fit all kinds of stuff in here. Visit a sick relative. Pick up trash on the street. Introduce yourself to someone you've been wanting to meet. Make a special donation to a favorite charity. Tip 20% or more. Bring your tithe up to date. Write a complimentary letter to someone you admire. The point is to give something you have--time, talent, or treasure--to someone else who can use it. This may include kindness to yourself. Are you doing enough of the things that give you life? If not, they go into this column too.

* Prayer. Pray daily at home. Begin meals with a bible reading and a prayer. Attend the adult education sessions at your parish. Read the Sunday scriptures before you get to church. Make an hour-long visit to the Blessed Sacrament once a week. Meet someone who's joining the church at Easter, or at least send them a letter of prayerful support. Go to Mass a little more. Make a pilgrimage to some holy place. Meet with some friends once a week to talk about your faith. The trick is to mix the public and private prayer that will sustain you throughout the day.

* Fasting. Lent used to include a major fast. Only one complete meal a day. Undernourished Catholics were happy to see that rule slip away. But a voluntary six-week fast will make you more aware of your Lenten goals than any other exercise. Trust me. So, obey the Friday rule: No meat on Fridays in lent. And don't substitute shrimp and lobster. The idea is to eat less in quantity and in extravagance. Give up the food and drink you know you shouldn't be consuming anyway. Exercise regularly. And stick to it. It'll be the longest six weeks of your life, but it'll be worth it.

Now, before you go on to step three, go back over your list and revise it. Remember, you've got six weeks. You may have too much or too little. Make it doable. But make it significant. Above all, pick activities you will commit to for all six weeks of lent.

Step Three: Celebrate. The liturgy of lent gives you ample opportunity to bring your Lenten goals to church with you.

* The scrutinies. If your parish is celebrating the scrutinies on Sundays three, four, and five of lent this year, join in prayer with the elect preparing for baptism. But recognize the weaknesses in your own life, and pray for God's help to make your resolutions stick.

* Reconciliation. Lent is quite simply the perfect occasion for the sacrament of reconciliation. All that stuff you want to change in your life? Bring it with you to a penance service and leave it in the hands of God.

* The Triduum. Go to church on all three days: Holy Thursday, Good Friday, and above all the Easter Vigil. Not just Easter Sunday morning, but the Easter Vigil. There's a difference. These three church services form one unit in the liturgy. It's like one big prayer service that doesn't end for three days. Don't pick and choose which ones to go to--go to all three. The Easter Vigil is our primary celebration of the resurrection of Christ. The celebration happens on several levels: We commemorate the dying and rising of Jesus. Those being baptized die to their former way of life and rise as Christians. And you die to the old person you were before you started reading this article, and rise with Christ as the new you. If that doesn't call for an Easter bonnet, nothing will.

There's my guarantee. Assess what you want to change about yourself. Plot out the specific ways you plan to work on it this lent. And celebrate it with the church. I guarantee you'll have an Easter like you've never had before.

[This article first appeared in the Catholic Key on February 18, 1996]