"And Jesus rebuked him, and the devil went out of him, and the child was cured from that hour. Then came the disciples to Jesus secretly, and said: Why could not we cast him out? Jesus said to them: Because of your unbelief. For, amen I say to you, if you have faith as a grain of mustard seed, you shall say to this mountain: Remove from hence hither, and it shall remove: and nothing shall be impossible to you. But this kind is not cast out but by prayer and fasting."
~ Matthew 17:17-20
At spin class yesterday, the spin teacher had us start with our bikes set to a flat road. After a few hills, and resistance re-sets, she said to go back to the flat road--but to add two gears, and that would be our new flat road for the rest of the class.
Lent is like that, I think. Each year, Lent turns out to be such a powerful experience that by Easter I find that my faith is forever raised to a whole new level.
Two years ago, I went to Confession once a week during Lent, which was hard to schedule, but awesome and so worth it. Last year, I think I gave up Diet Coke (right?), and now I don't even need it at all (usually). This year, in addition to fasting from desserts, I'm not going to sleep later than 6a.m. on weekdays. This is something I've been struggling with for--well, forever, and it's quite apparent that I cannot do it on my own. No wonder St. Josemaria calls that moment of rising "the heroic moment;" it's certainly the hardest thing I try to do on most days! So this Lent I'm praying for God's help in a big way for this one.
Wishing you all a holy and blessed Lent!
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