Adam Wright:
The last time that Father Wade was with us, just last week, we were talking about Lent in the general, and today we’re going to dive into the positives and negatives. Now, Father Wade, I remember that last year when you and I had this conversation, there was just one very important detail. Do not take Father Wade’s coffee ice cream away from him. If that’s what he gives up for Lent, once Easter comes, you better steer clear, but we’re going to talk about these things today.
Fr. Wade Menezes:
Yeah, well, actually, you make it sound like it’s just one thing, the coffee ice cream. And so you’re partially correct. It’s coffee, ice cream, and especially coffee ice cream.
Adam Wright:
Okay, alright. Well, I’ve got this list here. This is a rare opportunity where I have a list. It’s not a Father Wade Menezes list, but I thought of you immediately because it is a great list, of 40 unique ideas for Lent from my friend Marcel LeJeune. I’m actually going to throw a link in the description so our listeners can go to that one without us having to talk about Marcel, because we’re here to talk about the positives and negatives with you as we begin Lent today on Ash Wednesday. Maybe we’re still saying, “Alright, I’ve got to make my decision today,” so let’s dive in with some guidance, Father.
Fr. Wade Menezes:
Sounds good. Sounds good. First of all, for those who are just attending to our talk now for the first time and didn’t hear last week’s, I want to urge them to go to the Covenant Network website or the Fathers of Mercy website, the Facebook links at both respective sites, to watch last week’s interview. Because we talked about Lent generally, if you will, a general overview of Lent. Okay? And we ended that conversation about Lent as a liturgical season and why it’s important and everything else by explaining that there are positives of Lent, things I want to do for Lent, that’s a positive, and things I want to give up for Lent, things that are negative that I want to give up. And so whether it’s either or a combination of both, and hopefully it’ll be a combination of both that we do as individuals, today’s topic is going to focus more on that. So, my point here is that the two interviews really go together, and to get a cohesive whole of the liturgical season of Lent and what it’s all about, Adam, I really want to encourage your listeners and my listeners to go and listen to both half-hour podcasts that have the visual to them as well at the YouTube link.
But yeah, so first of all, just a little recap of Lent. We said last week that the word Lent comes from the middle English word “lencten”, meaning “springtime”, which automatically bells and whistles should go off, that it’s all about new life and new growth, a new Living Testament, etcetera. Okay, so Lent comes from the old middle English word meaning springtime. The Lent season lasts 40 days because Jesus went into the desert for 40 days of fasting, meditation, and reflection before beginning His three years of public ministry. The Congregation for Divine Worship describes Lent as a time of preparation for Easter: “It is a time to hear the word of God, to convert, to prepare for, and remember one’s baptism, to be reconciled with God and one’s neighbor, and of more frequent recourse to the arms of Christian penance: prayer, fasting, and almsgiving, also known as the three imminent good works.” And these three things constitute precisely that. Imminent (the best of) good works, because they aid ourselves and they aid our neighbor.
Lent officially begins on Ash Wednesday and ends at the beginning of the Mass of the Lord’s Supper on Holy Thursday evening. And traditionally, as we know from last week’s discussion, Adam, that Sundays are excluded from Lent’s 40-day count. So today I want to talk about some positives and negatives. Things we can do (positive), things (negative) that we can give up. And I think that’s very important. But before we delve into those, I want to give a little overview of just fasting per se and what the Church’s teaching is on fasting. So that we know the fasting rules, especially for the two days of both fasting and abstinence that are required by the USCCB (the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops), especially on Ash Wednesday and Good Friday. But first of all, regarding fasting especially during the liturgical season of Lent. Fasting is a form of self-denial (or self-deprivation, we could say) that deepens our appreciation of and longing for the food we really need: the food of God, the trinitarian Godhead in our lives. All things offered to the Father, through the Son, in the Holy Spirit. That trinitarian spirituality that I like to make reference to so much, that our whole lives should revolve around, this trinitarian spirituality. Whether it’s our work, our family life, our friendship life, our life of friendships, our recreation and leisure. Everything should be revolving around this strong trinitarian spirituality that leads us to be more eternity-minded. All things offered to the Father, through the Son, in the Holy Spirit.
Whether I’m working at my desk, whether I’m watching a ball game with my fellow Father of Mercy confreres, whether I’m visiting family and friends. It can all be offered to Almighty God, our trinitarian Godhead. And I think that’s important. And so, we’re told in Scripture the reason why Christ’s disciples do not fast in Matthew 9 is because they have given themselves over to Jesus, who leads them to the Father, in the Holy Spirit. Right? “He who has seen me sees the Father.” Right? And then He promises the paraclete. At the completion of the Paschal mystery 50 days after the resurrection of our Lord, we celebrate Pentecost, the sending forth of the Holy Spirit. Jesus is their food that completes this Paschal mystery, this four-event event of our Lord’s passion, death, resurrection and ascension into Heaven. But we fast now during Lent in order to seek Him day after day and in a special way during this liturgical season of Lent and to desire to know His ways ever more, right? So that they continue even past Lent, our relationship with Him and the principles that help keep that personal relationship with Jesus Christ active in our lives.
And so we fast, simply, to sum it all up, so that this Lent Christ will become our all. He will become our all. And there’s different ways that we can do this in our daily life, whether one be single, or married, or a consecrated religious. So that said, a little bit about Ash Wednesday and Good Friday: days of fasting and abstinence and penance. According to the USCCB’s website, Ash Wednesday and Good Friday, Adam, are both obligatory days of fasting and abstinence together. In addition, Fridays during Lent are obligatory days of abstinence from meat. All other Fridays of the year, some 45 of them, right, are to be observed as days of penitential observance, where the person takes on personally what they want to take on. So, for example, we Fathers of Mercy here in our main general house in Auburn, Kentucky, we have the house practice, what’s called a house custom in religious life, to still abstain from meat on Fridays throughout all the year. Unless, of course, it’s a solemnity on that Friday.
For members of the Latin Catholic Church, the norms on fasting are obligatory from age 18 until age 59. When fasting, a person is permitted to eat one full meal, as well as two smaller meals, that together do not equal that one full-sustaining meal. The norms concerning abstinence from meat are binding upon members of the Latin Catholic Church, the Latin rite, that is, from age 14 onwards, alright? Members of the Eastern Catholic Churches, some 23 different rites, observe the particular laws of their own “sui iuris” churches, which is a canonical term in canon law, their own particular church according to their own individual rite, if possible. The fast on Good Friday is continued until the Easter Vigil on Holy Saturday night as the Paschal fast, to honor the suffering and death of our Lord Jesus Christ and to prepare ourselves then, to share more fully and to celebrate more readily His resurrection. So that’s just an overview of fasting and abstinence as far as the laws of the Church, but particularly on both Good Friday and on Ash Wednesday, which require both fasting and abstinence. And we can’t forget that every Friday of the year is to be a day of penitential observance. So that’s just a little overview there.
Adam Wright:
Before we dive a little bit more into this, I just want to say this. The first year that I took that Good Friday fast all the way through to the Easter Vigil, I think that year in particular, I gave up donuts. Because, Father, on my way to work every day, I was stopping at the gas station. They had really good donuts, and I’d grab one. So I said, this year no donuts.
Fr. Wade Menezes:
Adam, I know confessions can’t be heard over the air, but should I get my confessional, as you’re saying?
Adam Wright:
No, I’m just going to say this. That Saturday night, driving home from Mass on the Easter Vigil, the holiest of nights, I stopped at the gas station, and Sunday morning’s donuts had been delivered. And without a doubt, the best donut I’ve ever had in my life was thanks to the joy of the Resurrection, celebrated liturgically in the life of the Church. I’m just putting that out there to say, if you can do it, do the fast through the Easter Vigil from Good Friday through to the Vigil on Holy Saturday.
Fr. Wade Menezes:
Amen. And all great things come to those who wait. And you waited. So that’s very good. Alright so, we’ve already said what our definitions are of positives and negatives for Lent. Positives are things we do. Negatives are things we give up. Okay? So here’s a little combination of both. And then I want to share two brief lists, one from Pope Francis and one from myself, that kind of give us some other ideas. But here’s a list of 40 right here from Sherry Antonetti, who’s a mother of ten children. She and her husband live outside of Washington, DC. She blogs for the National Catholic Register. And I thought this was very, very good. 40 Lenten resolutions: What to give up for Lent or to do for Lent. She says with the Lenten season underway, here are a few ideas for how to begin the spiritual journey into the desert to prepare for the suffering, death and resurrection of our Lord. And then she counts backwards, not necessarily because she’s giving us these in a hierarchy, but rather because she just wants to count from the 40 days of Lent up to the day of Easter, okay? Or to the sacred Triduum, actually.
So, number 40: Go to Mass an extra time or two a week if your schedule permits it. That’s a doing. That’s a positive, right? Go to Mass an extra time or two a week. Give up caffeine. Now, that’s really heroic. This second one, number 39, okay? Who wants to be around Father Wade when he gives up caffeine? Not too many people do. Just ask my confreres, okay? But it can be done. I want to tell you it can be done. Number 38: Volunteer in the soup kitchen or a hospital for a few hours a week near your home. Surrender credit cards and budget to pay only cash. This will help you to deplete your frivolity in spending on little things, right? So that’s a good one. Giving up the credit cards. Surrendering the credit cards. Pray a daily Rosary, if you don’t regularly pray the daily Rosary, and I add to that, number 36, pray a daily Divine Mercy chaplet. How about share the daily readings at dinner when the family sits down to have dinner, or just one of the readings of the Mass that day? Fast from all fast food. There’s one that could be really trying for some people who maybe eat out fast food three, four, five times a week during their work schedule. Pack a lunch instead. Invest in a little Igloo-type container where you can make your lunch and take it to work, and you’ll be saving money at the same time. How about taking on a nine day Novena or a certain devotional? How about adding an hour of Eucharistic adoration to your weekly prayer regimen? Maybe your local parish church has a Eucharistic adoration chapel, for example. How about becoming a lay reader or an usher? Or bring Holy Communion to the homebound? Signing up to be officially deputed as an Extraordinary Minister of Holy Communion, in other words.
Number 30: Write to friends and representatives about your faith. Go to the gym or exercise daily as an offering. Invest in a home gym. Number 28: Abstain from a favorite activity like Facebook or Twitter, or from one’s phone. Refrain from unpleasant, catty, or snarky comments, even in your head when they come, kind of blot them out. Number 26 is say I love you daily to someone in your family or to a close friend. Number 25: Offer up the most hated chore you have, performing it with a cheerful heart. Number 24: Receive the Sacrament of Reconciliation, Holy Confession, and adopt a daily examination of conscience. We’ve talked about in the past, Adam, how the church’s tradition is actually two daily examinations of conscience, one at midday called the particular examen, and the one at the end of the day called the general examen. The particular one you look at a particular virtue you’re trying to advance or a particular vice you’re trying to uproot out. And the general examen is when you look at your whole day regularly, or generally throughout the whole day. Become more educated regarding the Catechism of the Catholic Church. Maybe you read three to five number paragraphs a day as part of your spiritual reading as well. Our novices do that at 4:15 every day until the 4:30 Holy Hour begins. Community wise up until 5:30, when we have solemn benediction. That first 15 minutes from 4:15 to 4:30, they’re reading specifically the universal catechism of the Catholic Church as part of their coursework as novices. How about matching all extra spending that you do in charitable giving? How about that? Eliminate television and entertainment screens, except only when with family members to have a family night. Number 20: Ban the cell phone or computer when not at work and use it only for work. Number 19 is visit the sick, the elderly, or the imprisoned as your schedule permits. Maybe sign up with your parish as an official homebound visitor. Pray daily for the souls in Purgatory. That’s a great one during Lent. I think that’d be a great way to fulfill the prayer, fasting, and almsgiving, the prayer part of the three imminent good works.
Number 17 is seek reconciliation with estranged family and friends. Approach that estranged family relative or friend in a way that is appropriate given that particular circumstance. Give up a “time fritterer”, she calls it, such as surfing the net, shopping, television, telephone, etcetera, when you don’t need to be doing that during free time. In other words, her point here with number 16 is make free time more productive. Have meatless meals all 40 days. That’s something a person can do. Invite others to go to Mass with you. Invite others to go to monthly confession with you. Clear out the closets of excessive toys and clothes that can be donated to charity, like to Catholic charities or to St. Vincent de Paul or to Goodwill or to another nondenominational charitable giving store, the Salvation Army. Comfort the mourning with food, presence and prayer. Contribute to Catholic charities or to a religious order. Number 10 is give Masses, with the Mass card sent to the person, as gifts during Lent. Send somebody an email telling them that you’ve had a Mass set for them, for their needs and intentions. Maybe somebody you know who’s going through a particularly hard time. Witness to life via a protest of the death penalty, abortion, writing letters, or participating in a prayerful witness. Pray for the conversion of prisoners, especially for those on death row. Even write their names down if need be, if you know who they are. Host families for dinner on a Friday. Fish fry. Discuss your faith. Host the family fish fry. If you have other relatives in your area and the extended family kind of lives in the area, maybe 20 of them or so, host a fish fry. Or get the whole extended family involved for different homes in the extended family to host the fish fry that night.
These are great, great ideas. Fantastic ideas. I kind of got lost here. Adam, hang on and bear with me here. Next we have number 7. We’re getting down to the list there. Resolve to sing loudly, if not well, at Mass. Adam, how’s that one? And do it with reverential joy. Okay now, this is a mother of ten kids who wrote this one, okay? So I’m wondering if there’s anything about her and her husband taking up an entire pew with their beautiful family in the Alexandria, Washington, DC area, and she’s saying, “Resolve to sing loudly, if not well, at Mass with joy and reverence.” Adam, any comment on that, as a husband and father with a good number of children yourself?
Adam Wright:
You know, I will just say this. If we can get them all to open the hymnal, it’s a good week.
Fr. Wade Menezes:
And open the hymnal without tearing the pages, right?
Adam Wright:
We’ve got that one down. Finally, after about twelve years of trying, we finally got there.
Fr. Wade Menezes:
Okay, good. Alright, number six on our list is help with the catechism program of your church. Maybe it meets on a Saturday. Maybe it meets on a Wednesday evening. Become a witness of your faith. If you can’t be the actual catechism teacher for a particular class, offer to be an aide or a helper to that class. Get more involved in the parish and diocese. Find out where help is needed, and become that very help, at the parish level or the diocesan level. Number four: Give up any unhealthy habit that keeps you from becoming closer to Christ. Number three: Spend time discovering a saint’s faith through their writings. This is a big one for me because I love reading the lives of saints. I love reading a tidbit of the lives of the saints each day. We learn so much about the saints, especially the saints, Adam, that had the same state in life as we have. Now, we can benefit from reading the life of any saint, don’t get me wrong, but I can benefit especially from reading the lives of saints that were religious order priests. You with saints and blesseds who were husbands and fathers, single men in college, let’s say, reading those lives of the saints and blesseds of the single men, like Blessed Pierre Giorgio Frassati. Whatever it is, we gain from reading the life of any saint. No doubt. No doubt at all. Especially those who shared the same state in life as us. Because, as you’ve heard me say before, the saints lived in the modern world of their time, Adam, just like we live in the modern world now of our time. And if they did it, we can do it right. So, amen to that.
Adam Wright:
Yeah, and I would say, Father, that’s a great one to do right before dinner. Maybe just read a paragraph or two and then do your blessing before meals, sit down as a family and have your meal together. You’d be surprised how many lives of the saints you could get through during the season of Lent if you just read a few paragraphs at dinner time.
Fr. Wade Menezes:
Yeah. Amen. Amen. That’s a beautiful idea. Number two, she has: Ask for the graces you lack for daily in prayer with purposeful intent. Ask for the graces you lack in your daily prayer with purposeful intent. Do I lack in patience? Do I lack in charity towards this one brother, this one coworker, this one sister? Do I lack in charity with this one sibling? And take that to personal prayer with purposeful intent. I think that’s very important. And then she has down as number one, and I don’t think she put these in any particular order, but it’s a beautiful one for number one, Adam. She says: Spend time every day thanking Almighty God for His only begotten Son. Amen to that.
So for those listening to this podcast and benefited from this list of 40 things we can both do and give up for Lent, that is to say, positively do for Lent and negatively do for Lent, they can go to the National Catholic Register”s archives and for February 27, 2020, they will find this article by Sherry Antonetti. Again, she’s a freelance writer, blogger, and published author of The Book of Helen, and she lives just outside Washington, DC. With her husband and ten children. So I want to thank Sherry for her great work as a wife and mother and putting together such a great list. Any comments on any of those, Adam? They kind of dovetailed with the list that you shared with me earlier today before we went on the air from your friend Marcel.
Adam Wright:
I’ll say this, Father, first and foremost, to make it easy for our listeners, we’ll put a link. For those of you listening on the podcast or watching the video version of this interview, we will put a link in the description. We’ll save you from having to do the search. Our gift to you this Lent. But, Father, what I love, it takes me back to a friend of mine who once said, “Every time we say yes to something, we say no to something else.” So even the positives, get up earlier and pray means we’re saying no to sleep. Or if I’m going to make it to daily Mass, I’m going to have to find a 06:00 a.m. Mass, or a 6:15 so that I can make it to the studio in time, which means I’m going to have to say no to my normal wake-up time and wake up even earlier. In that case, I’m probably not going to give up the coffee, however. The coffee will become all the more important. And I would say this, Father, I think of my good friend Father James, who once said, “We have to be very careful that our fasting does not become someone else’s penance.”
Fr. Wade Menezes:
Yeah. There you go. There you go. So before you give up coffee for Lent, ask yourself, “Do I really want my spouse and my children to be around me daily when I haven’t had my coffee?” It’s good self-knowledge. We say this flippantly and kind of in a laughing way, because it is kind of humorous. But at the same time, we need to pick things of fasting, whether in the positive or the negative, the doing or the giving up, that are appropriate for us, to help us move forward in growth and holiness in the walk of daily sanctity. I said it before, when we’ve recorded together, Adam, that St. Thomas Aquinas teaches in his Summa, that the first step needed to grow in personal sanctity (personal holiness) is good self-knowledge. Know your vices to begin to uproot them. Know your virtues to begin to advance them. So if you don’t have good self-knowledge, you can’t grow in holiness. So ask yourself with your self-knowledge, should I be giving up coffee? Or does coffee kind of help me get through the day? Because if I’m going to be a bear, an absolute bear to be around, maybe I shouldn’t give up coffee. Maybe I can give up coffee on Sundays, maybe I can give up coffee on Fridays, but I’m not going to give up coffee entirety. So we joke about these things, we kind of make them humorous, and in one sense they are, human nature being what it is, you know we’ve got to get through this world laughing with a beautiful sense of humor and a beautiful pursuance of the truth at the same time. And so what you say isn’t off the mark. In fact, what you say is very telling, very real, and very true.
Pope Francis recently put out a list, and I think it’s very good because he begins each one of these listings with the word “fast”. He says fast from this and instead do this. And so I want to comb through these maybe ten or twelve different things that he gives here. Pope Francis says, “Do you want to fast this Lent? Here’s some ideas for fasting. Fast from hurting words and say only kind words. Fast from sadness and be filled with gratitude and joy. Fast from anger and be filled with patience and joy. Fast from pessimism and be filled with the virtue of hope.” One of the three theological virtues, right? Along with faith and charity. He says, “Fast from worries and anxiety and instead have trust in God. Fast from complaints or complaining and contemplate simplicity and giving compliments. Fast from pressures and instead be prayerful. Fast from bitterness and fill your heart with joy. Fast from selfishness and instead be compassionate to others.” That word compassionate comes from the Latin word “passio”, which means a love, but specifically a love that’s willing to suffer for the other. So we talk about the passion and death of our Lord Jesus Christ. Well, He suffered, His passion was His suffering, precisely because of the love He has for us, right? John 3:16, for God so loved the world that He laid down His life for us, and He sent his only begotten Son, who sent down His life for us. So that’s important. And you have the “com” in front of “passio”. Compassion, it means “together with”. Compassion is together with, suffering with love for the other. And I think humanity can use a lot more compassion in the world today. Very much so. So again, “Fast from selfishness and instead be more compassionate to others. Fast from grudges and be reconciled. Fast from words, even good words sometimes, and instead be silent so that you can listen more.” So there you have it. There’s a great list from Pope Francis. I think that’s very, very good. Adam, is it possible for me to send you this list in a simple email that you could post a link to it as well?
Adam Wright:
I would love to do that, Father. And I would say this: perhaps fast from secular media in your car and tune in to Catholic radio, like Roadmap to Heaven that you’re listening to right now, Open Line Tuesdays with Father Wade Menezes. There’s so many great programs throughout the day. Make Lent a season of growing in your faith with us here on Covenant Network and our partners at EWTN Global Catholic Radio. It’s free theology, free spirituality, free motivation, free encouragement, all day, every day in the season of Lent.
Fr. Wade Menezes:
Yeah you know, I think I can say this, I listen to Christian radio, Christian contemporary radio. And in the greater Nashville area, we have what’s called Way FM. I don’t know if you have an affiliate there in the St. Louis area, but they often talk about the 21-day challenge of listening to Way FM to change your life, your way of thinking, and to immerse yourself in the beautiful words of these contemporary Christian songs by contemporary Christian artists. Well, you’re offering a 40-day challenge to listen to Catholic Christian radio. And that’s a great one. That’s a great one. Might I add, Adam? Change your secular pottery in your home to Catholic pottery. Can I say that? There’s Mother Angelica’s mug right there. And when I say it’s her mug, I mean it in a dual sense. I mean it, there’s her mug, as in a coffee mug, and there’s her mug right there as well. How awesome is that?
Adam Wright:
Well, I’m going to go right there with you, Father, and just encourage you: pray, hope, and don’t worry, with every cup of coffee today. Father, before we let you go, I do have one question I want to get to on this, because I love thinking about this every Lent. And you often share with us about the Ejaculatory prayers, just those quick little prayers we can pray at the spur of a moment. Often, say we give up food, some food item for Lent, and we have that particular hankering like, oh, I gave up donuts (to use the example from earlier), I gave up donuts for Lent. And right now I just really want a donut. What’s something that we can pray just in that moment to offer that craving for that donut up to our Lord.
Fr. Wade Menezes:
“My guardian angel, protect me.” He’s there right with you, guiding you through the day at every literal step of the day. “My guardian angel, protect me from this temptation specifically to a donut. My guardian angel, protect me from all evil this day.” You’re walking into a grocery store. How many mass shootings have taken place at grocery stores? It’s so sad. “My guardian angel, protect me.” There’s one right there. Maybe you have a particular devotion to a particular saint. St. Joseph. “St. Joseph, protect me. St. Joseph, be my guide.” That’s actually one of the traditional short fervent, aspiration or ejaculatory prayers is “St. Joseph, be my guide.” “St. Anthony, be my guide” is another one, especially when we’re traveling. So there’s all kinds that are out there, and I would say based on your own personal spirituality and your own personal spiritual doings throughout the day, pick an aspiration prayer (an ejaculatory prayer) that is appropriate for you in your life.
Adam, I have one final list here, just simply titled Try A Different Approach To Fasting This Lent”. I think it’s very, very good. It says, “Lent and fast have a tendency to be oriented toward giving up things like food, television, coffee, and this is a good thing, no doubt. But there are many other creative ways we can welcome Jesus’s healing touch into our lives this Lent. Here are some suggestions you may want to consider. Number 1: Fast from anger and hatred. Give your family members an extra dose of love and attention each day. Pray 7 Glory Be’s each day and honor the Blessed Trinity for the specific intention of growing in the virtue of charity towards your family members. 1 Peter 2 verse 1 says, ‘Strip away everything vicious, everything deceitful, all pretenses, jealousies, envy, slander, and disparaging remarks of any kind.’ Number 2: Fast from judging others before making subjective judgments about others or situations.” We always have the right to judge objectively, however. “Recall how Jesus overlooks our own faults and constantly welcomes us back to His divine mercy, God’s greatest attribute, according to the writings of the church fathers. Luke 6 verse 37 says, ‘Do not judge and you will not be judged. Do not condemn and you will not be condemned. Forgive and you will be forgiven.’ Number 3: Fast from discouragement. Hold onto God’s promise that He has a perfect plan for your life, and pray for an increase of hope.” Again, one of the three theological virtues, along with faith and charity. “Jeremiah 29:11 says, ‘For I know well the plans I have for you, says the Lord God, they are plans for good and not for disaster. Rather, plans to give you a future full of hope.’ Jeremiah 29:11. Number 4: Fast from complaining. When you find yourself about to complain about something, especially to the point that it will disrupt your personal peace, close your eyes, take a deep breath, and recall some of the little and larger moments of joy that Jesus has given you throughout your life. The third letter of John, verse 11 says, ‘Do not imitate an evil example, but follow what is good. For whoever does what is good is of God. And Philippians 4, verses 4 through 5 says, ‘Rejoice in the Lord always. I say it again rejoice. Everyone should see how unselfish you are.”
And we should know well, Adam, that both the liturgical seasons of Lent and Advent give us a “Rejoice Sunday”, right? In Lent, it’s Laetare Sunday. In Advent, it’s Gaudete Sunday. So our Lord and His bride, the Church, and her sacred Liturgy, must want us to really put some emphasis on this virtue of hope in our lives. And my second to last point here: “Fast from resentment, bitterness, fighting and or quarreling. Work on forgiving those who have hurt you in the past, whoever they might have been, family members, friends, or strangers, even. Romans 13 verses 13 and 14 says, ‘Let us live honorably as in daylight, not in carousing and drunkenness, not in sexual excess and lust, no. Not in quarreling or jealousy, no. Rather, put on the Lord Jesus Christ.'” And my last point here, Adam, number 6: “Fast from spending too much money, especially in a day and age of high inflation. Try to reduce your overall spending, especially on frivolous things, and give these financial savings to the poor. Proverbs 19 verse 17 states, ‘Whoever is kind to the poor, lends to the Lord, and He will reward them for what they have done.'” So there you have it. Trying a different approach to fasting during Lent, Pope Francis’s challenge to do some different kinds of fasting during Lent, and of course, that list of 40 different things from our good friend Sherry Antonetti, who writes for the National Catholic Register. And I’ll send you some links to my own personal list as well, Adam, so we can get all those at Covenant Network.
Adam Wright:
It’ll be great, Father. And I just want to leave this thought out there, because I know in the readings for Ash Wednesday, we hear this from our Lord that when you fast, don’t do it in such a way that everybody knows you’re fasting. You shouldn’t be walking around like, “Oh my goodness, I’m fasting. Woe is me. Life is terrible.” And I always go back to this quote from one of my favorite saints, St. Philip Neri, who said, “Cheerfulness strengthens the heart and helps us to persevere. A servant of God ought always to be in good spirits. Charity and cheerfulness, or charity and humility, should be our motto.” And I know from experience, Father, and I imagine you do, too, the more we focus on the love of our Lord, and we do all of this with a grateful heart, the easier our fasting will be, and the more fruitful, dare I say, it will be as well.
Fr. Wade Menezes:
Amen. Great summation. Great summation. Let joy lead it all.
Adam Wright:
Yeah. Alright well, Father, it’s been a great conversation about the positives and negatives of Lent. And like we said, we hope you’re not giving up Roadmap to Heaven or Open line Tuesday or Catholic Radio. In fact, the 40-day challenge, be with us throughout this season of Lent. If you want to find the replay of this for our radio listeners, be sure to go check out our podcast, Roadmap to Heaven, available wherever you get your podcast and on Covenant Network. For our YouTube viewers and viewers of the video version of this interview online, we want to know in the comments below. What are you doing this Lent? What are you giving up? What are the positives you’re doing? And how has that helped you? Maybe you’ll make it onto a list next year when we get ready for the season of Lent. So do share those with us. Father, it wouldn’t be a time together with you if we didn’t close out in prayer, and in particular, asking that intercession of St. Joseph. So I want to turn it over to you.
Fr. Wade Menezes:
You bet, Adam. May the blessing of Almighty God, the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit, this Lent and always, descend upon all of our Covenant Network and Roadmap to Heaven listeners and remain with each and every one of you this Lent, this day and always. We ask this through Christ our Lord.
Adam Wright:
Amen.
Fr. Wade Menezes:
Amen. And St. Joseph, Terror of Demons.
Adam Wright:
Pray for us. Well, Father Wade, thank you so much for being with us on Roadmap to Heaven today. For more information on the Fathers of Mercy, be sure to check out
fathersofmercy.com. There’s some great lists there, some great resources there. Or follow them on social media. We will link to them. You can find them there. However you get there, just get there. We’re going to take a break here on Roadmap to Heaven. Don’t go anywhere.
