Lenten Promises

Many take up a practice for Lent, like daily Bible readings, daily rosaries, daily fast. Many others give up practices like smoking, chocolate, coffee. It's almost like New Year's resolutions part 2. The real challenge, just like any resolution is the matter of follow though. Johnny McCharen, a fine businessman here in Oklahoma told me, "Any game with a stick and a ball requires three things. Keep your eye on the ball, strike it squarely with the stick, and follow though the stroke. It is the same in life, identify your goal, make a swing at it, and follow though to the end of the swing."

As we are just now at the beginnings of Lent, the passion to fulfill the Lenten promises is still heavily heartfelt. As time wears on though, the challenge of the follow though will appear. I like what Tony Dungy the football coach says, "If it's important enough to you, you'll do it!"

Is keeping a Lenten promise important enough to you?

Next week I will begin back on the series of the Inconvenient Faith, starting with the earliest of heresies and schisms and working our way up through history to the modern issues we face. I've often thought that we don't remain faithful to the Church because we find it inconvenient to the life we want to lead. Just like keeping the Lenten promise, we may find it inconvenient to our time or other desires. Tony Dungy had it right, "If it's important enough to you, you'll do it!"