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A Soul That Thirsts: Lent as Sacrifice and Hope
By Joao Napoleao Nogueira
“O God, you are my God, I seek you, my soul thirsts for you; my flesh faints for you, as in a dry and weary land where no water is,” (Psalm 63:1).
What does lent mean to you? What are the disciplines you have chosen to on thisseason of struggle and victory?
These are common questions throughout the halls of the Catholic Student Union, and as a student I hear them often.
To me, Lent is sacrifice — a time when I ask: What can I do to disconnect myself from worldly desires and return to God? It is also a time of hope. I find solace in remembering what Christ has done for me while He was in the desert Himself. Lent calls us to commit ourselves to prayer, and it has been deeply encouraging to see my peers praying together in the chapel. There is comfort in knowing I am not alone in my hardships — that God has given me friends I can lean on, and pray with, when I need it. The Lord made us to thrive in community, and that spirit of fellowship is clear at the Catholic Student Union.
When it came to choosing a set of disciplines suitable for this lent, comfort was not encouraged. Just as Jesus fasted in the desert for forty days and forty nights, and was tempted by the enemy, so must we come to understand and accept the difficulties that come with bring our hearts close to Lord’s. However, it does not matter how physically difficult your penances are, from sleeping on the floor to taking cold showers, if you do not do it out love for Jesus and purity of heart it will bear no fruit, “If I give all I possess to the poor and exult in the surrender of my body, but have not love, I gain nothing,” ( 1 Corinthians 13:3).
In the coming of Lent, the priest who leads us often reminds us: “It is okay to do hard things.” I adopted that as my motto at first. But in prayer, the Lord added words for me to live by: It is okay to do hard things out of love.