First of all, look over your calendar. Is there anything you can “give up for Lent”? In all likelihood there isn’t. You’ve paid the registration fees, made the commitment, now you are in it for the long haul. Or, work ramps up in the Spring…whether you work indoors or outdoors, this time of year gets busy!  So, if you can’t take anything off your calendar and you know you want to spend more time with Jesus, let’s look at one creative way to do that.

How often have you heard to “offer it up”? Probably lots if you’ve been Catholic for more than 30 seconds. Well, has anyone ever actually taught you how to offer it up? I’m going to try to do that now, it’s better if you can talk with someone about it, possibly a spiritual director or another person you know has a pretty solid prayer life. But, here goes:

Offering up one’s activities and struggles and downright problems to God for reparation of sin, relief for the Holy Souls in Purgatory or for someone else’s intentions is actually a fairly simple thing to do. I used to think it was something I had to think about ALL the time for it to “count”. What I found is that you can pray a quick prayer that tells God that you are giving him your __________ for an intention. For instance you can use a standard Morning Offering like this one:

Oh my Jesus, through the Immaculate Heart of Mary, I offer You my prayers, works, joys, and sufferings of this day. For all the intentions of Your Sacred Heart, in union with the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass throughout the world, in reparation for my sins, for the intentions of all my family, friends, and relatives, and in particular the intentions of the Holy Father. Amen.

If you get this down to pray every morning (put it on your mirror and pray it while brushing your teeth), then you’ve just covered your whole day!
You can also offer up specific circumstances:

Lord, I’ve got a splitting headache right now, and still have tons of work to do (or pick up the kids from school, or take them to soccer practice, etc.). Take the pain I’m feeling and discouragement in my soul and use it for your glory. Amen.

Or:

Lord, my friend is really suffering right now. Help me to help her by offering you all my little sufferings, use them to take away some of her pain, and if not heal her outright, then give her the grace to join her suffering to Your Passion, in reparation for my sins and hers, and for the Holy Souls in Purgatory. Amen.

See, just a few words to give Jesus your pain, discomfort, but also your joy and praise! Don’t forget to offer Him those things, too! Okay, so now you know how to “offer it up”! Make this part of your Lenten practice and after 40 days you’ll be expert at it and you will have bound yourself more closely to Jesus and made a large step along your path to Heaven…and that’s what Lent is all about! So, even if you can’t simplify, fast, go to Stations of the Cross every Friday, make a Bible Study, or whatever else you want to do but just can’t do this year, you can grow in holiness right where you are, in the midst of the chaos of raising a family and working and attending meetings, sports practices and games, dance rehearsals, and everything else on that crazy calendar! The Lord knows what you desire and He is right next to you, giving you the grace to achieve it. May the glory of the Lord be yours now and forever!

Next time, we’ll talk about how to “pray unceasingly” as St. Paul exhorts us to do in Romans and First Thessalonians.