Once again the blessed season of lent is upon us. Among the various concepts of renewal that was advocated by the second Vatican Council, one of the principles was to adjust the practice of personal devotions to reflect the liturgical seasons and thus bring such devotions into a greater harmony with the sacred liturgy. While the unfortunate interpretation of this idea often mistakenly suggested some conflict between the liturgy (the Mass) and personal devotions, the concept of the Council was that personal devotions should reflect what the Church was currently celebrating. Under the influence of this ideal, personal devotions should take on some form of Christmas character during the season of Christmas (devotions to St. Nicholas or the infant Christ for instance), during the Easter season personal devotions should reflect the celebratory character of the season (stay away from the rabbit), etc.
During the season of lent the Church takes a spiritual journey into the desert with her Lord (cf. Matt. 4 & CCC 543). In preparation for His mission which would culminate in the suffering and death of the cross leading to the resurrection, Jesus fasted and allowed Himself to be tempted by the devil. In ancient Hebrew thought the desert was viewed as the realm of the demons therefore Christ was traveling into what was considered to be enemy territory, the battle was brought behind enemy lines. In a similar fashion, we are called dedicate this season as one of spiritual combat in preparation for the upcoming holy week and the renewal of our baptismal vows at the Easter celebration.
Alright, so how do we do this? In the traditional practice of the Church the practice of prayer, fasting and alms giving has been recommended. The general practice of fasting is one of training in tempering the passions while in the act of worship (CCC 2043). Nevertheless, any such practice must be joined to prayer so that it does not become some self-motivated act of self-perfection. Before undertaking any serious fast one should consult with a spiritual director.
In my humble opinion, a two-fold path of via positiva (doing something extra) and via negativa (not doing something) is the path to follow.
One ought to give something up for lent, this should be something that is highly prized by the individual. The idea, however, is to sacrifice something that is a comfort in an explicit act of love for God. This could be sweets, sleeping in on Saturdays, steaming hot showers, using the elevator, etc. The idea is to find something (preferably a legitimate convenience or pleasure) and refrain from it because we love Jesus.
On the positive side, one would find some pious or charitable act and perform this regularly for love of our Lord. This could be making the stations of the cross on Fridays (notice the influence of the liturgical season), volunteering at your parish’s fish fry (which also helps in observing the meatless Friday rule), praying a rosary for the ‘poor souls’ undergoing purgation, etc. I think this two-fold path strikes an excellent balance and would be quite pleasing to our Lord.
God bless you.