Why We Shouldn't Complain During Lent

My heart weighs sorrowfully as we enter the season of Lent, in sorrow for what happened to our Lord, in sorrow for the pain our Blessed Mother felt in her Immaculate Heart, in sorrow for my past sins and the sins of my family, friends, and entire human race…and in sorrow that I can’t have a sandwich.

On a serious note, traditionally we give up something we love, or at least we should, that may possibly cause us sorrow so that we, through our own form of suffering, may prepare ourselves for the Resurrection of our Lord and Savior on Easter Sunday. It can be anything. For example, just using myself as an example and trying not to brag, I have given up all forms of bread for the entire Lenten season. This includes my favorite “go-to” for a quick meal, sandwiches. Nothing tastes better than two slices of multi-grain bread with mayonnaise and mustard, sliced turkey seasoned with black pepper, pepper jack cheese, romaine lettuce, slied tomato, kosher pickle, and avocado…ok, now I’m just torturing myself.

In my giving up bread, I am hoping to learn that the only bread we truly need in life is the Bread of Life, our Lord Jesus Christ in the Eucharist. So far, I have not had a single slice, but almost slipped a few times. The first time was on Ash Wednesday. After Mass, having received the ashes on my forehead, I drove to the grocery store to pick some provisions. With Ash Wednesday being a day of fasting, I had not had anything to eat yet…so everything in the grocery store sounded good. I did keep myself under budget; however, I walked away from the store with a jar of pickles, thinking, “As soon as I get home, I’m going to make myself a sandwich.” Once I got in my car, I realized I didn’t buy any bread, and then I remembered my vow of fasting from all bread. So, I became frustrated with myself. Why in the world did I buy pickles to make a sandwich but can’t had bread right now?

It was then that this little thought popped into my head, “Because you’re hungry!” If there is one thing we shouldn’t do, or at least I advise against, is to go grocery shopping when you’re in the middle of a fast.

The other two times were both at the center of my Parish I attend. This past Friday and the Friday before, the Knights of Columbus provided a meatless soup dinner before praying the Stations of the Cross. The options were pea soup, broccoli and cheddar soup, bean soup, and a vegetarian minestrone, all with bread on the side.

I love to have bread with my soup, but again I’m fasting from all bread. So, there I was, sitting at a table with my fellow Parish members, all of us sipping on soup, and I am the only one not eating bread. Not only was I torturing myself, but also, I felt a little embarrassed. The reason for my embarrassment was because hanging on the far wall from us was a massive crucifix. I’m sipping on soup, wishing I had bread, then I look up at image of our Lord and let out a heavy sigh.

The lady sitting next to me, one of my fellow church members and Bible study classmates, asked me if I was ok. I told her the truth.

“I hate myself right now because here I am, fasting from bread and letting it torture me when our Lord and Savior when through a lot more than I did. He went through torture that was way lot worse than depriving the self of certain type of food. Also, the are some people in this world who go without any food for days, so why am I complaining? I should be thankful for this experience. In fact, I should do even more. Next year, I will give up coffee!”

My fellow Bible Study member commented, “You don’t want to go without coffee. Coffee has health benefits; it keeps the person who drinks it from slapping and yelling at others.”

Of course, I listened and decided I will need to choose something else for next year.

To reinforce my reason for not complaining anymore of the quote on quote, yes, I did the air quote gesture with my fingers, suffering I am putting myself into for Lent, I decided to watch The Passion of the Christ. I can never watch that movie without crying because of everything our Lord went through. The graphics of the movie being so realistic makes me love and appreciate our Lord even more for his pain he put himself through for us.

From this point on, I will try my best not to complain at all during Lent for whatever I choose to give up.

God bless all of you, my readers! May God give all of you a fruitful Lenten season.