THINGS WE CAN DO DURING LENT

We are now in the great penitential season of Lent. If we live the season as we ought, we will invariably think a good deal about sin — how we can avoid it, repent of it, get it forgiven, root it out of our lives, and pay the temporal penalty for it. As the great spiritual masters remind us, mortal sin rarely arises suddenly, with no habitual dispositions favoring it. True, our disordered concupiscence can sometimes catch us by surprise and we fall into grave sin without an obvious path to it, but most of the time, the way to mortal sin is paved with lots of venial sins, which make us accustomed to a little bit of this or that bad behavior, weaken our resistance, and lead us astray. If one tells a lot of small lies, one is paving the way for the big lies. If one eats and drinks a little too much again and again, one is laying a foundation for gluttony. And so on, with all the deadly sins. It’s spiritual common sense. This being so, it is just common sense that we should strive to discover how best to avoid venial sins; how best to rid ourselves of them and their bad effects; and if habituated to them, how to break the habit. Fortunately, the Church in her age-old treasure chest has gathered for us many means by which our venial sins can be remitted and prevented, and our charity enkindled. St. Thomas Aquinas, known as the Angelic Doctor observes: “There are many remedies against venial sins; for example, beating of the breast, sprinkling with holy water, extreme unction, and every sacramental anointing; a bishop’s blessing, blessed bread, general confession, compassion, the forgiveness of another’s faults, the Eucharist, the Lord’s Prayer, and all sorts of light penance.” Perhaps we should actively practice some of these during this Lenten season.