The season of Lent is here again. With Ash Wednesday coming up tomorrow, it’s time again to think about abstinence and cleansing of one’s soul in preparation for the glorification of Lord through His death and resurrection. It truly is a humbling time of the year, when we recall how Jesus suffered His passion to redeem us from evil. We look back on our lives so far, and examine what we tend to cling blindly to and learn to give up unnecessary material wants, and replace these “things of the world” by stocking up on our spiritual needs.

What are you giving up for Lent this year?

Many tend to think of Lent as a period of giving up something. Most times, these may be things that may not mean much in terms of our spirituality and faith, such as chocolates and candy. The idea of giving and abstinence during Lent, is actually a form of cleansing and disciplining ourselves, by learning to conditioning our urges and desires in a way that leads us to greater union with God. It is by no means a form of oppression or suppression, but rather a way to free ourselves from unwanted and unhealthy desires and attachments. It is only when we let go of these unnecessary burdens can we rise higher in our spiritual life. Such acts of self-discipline should not be restricted to just the period of Lent, but throughout our faith journey. However, it is especially highlighted during this period because we want to love Jesus as He has loved us, through sacrificing.

I’ve learned through the years that giving up simple things like coffee and chocolate during Lent does not essentially make me a better person. Lent should not be a treated as a season to adjust to a healthy diet. Instead, I try to assess what material things I’ve been overly attached to and learn to give these up. Such things can be either food, games, a bad habit, etc. Also, I try to devote more time to do something good, like saying extra rosaries, reading a good religious book, learning a new devotional prayer.

This year I’ll be continuing my fight with the morning alarm. I’m going to try to wake up without hitting the snooze on my alarm clock. Discipline in terms of  time management is something I seriously need to work on. And let’s not forget my continuous battle with my quick temper. Haven’t figured out how I can work on the latter, but it’s definitely something I desperately need to get rid of.

For more information on the season of Lent, as well as fasting and abstinence during this season, visit ETWN’s mini-site.

Meanwhile, here’s a good commentary on Lent by Father Barron.

I came across this powerful video on Padre Steve’s blog, Da Mihi Animas.

This video produced by Priests for Life was first shown on Ash Wednesday, on Father Mitch Pacwa’s television series, EWTN Live. Powerful!

I came across this on Creative Minority Report. This young lady definitely has her head screwed on straight!

A couple of days ago, I was watching some YouTube videos a friend of mine had posted. I came across a link to a video of a 4D ultrasound scan of a baby in the womb in the “Related Videos” sidebar. I clicked on it and was amazed! I continued looking up videos of similar nature, and as I watched, all I can say was “Wow!”. God is *SO* good! He gave us miracle of babies, and he gives us the technology to see the miracle of life as it unfolds in the mother’s womb. How can anyone say that *THAT* is just a blob of tissues, and not a baby?! How can anyone even *think* that it’s ok to kill that baby?!

Just at this moment, my mom walks into the room, looks at the video I was viewing on the computer, and says “What’s that?” I told her this is the latest in ultrasound technology, and now people can see their babies up close and personal. With this, we can now see their expressions and movements in 3D. Then I showed her this video:

She was as amazed as I was! For a long long time, she thought that babies in the womb do nothing but sleep. Of course, back in those days when she was pregnant with me, there wasn’t any such stuff as ultrasound scans. Thanks to modern technology and YouTube, now she knows that babies can also suck their thumb, smile, laugh, rub their eyes, kick their legs, and much more.. all that while they’re in the mother’s womb!

Isn’t comforting to know that ALL of us, including Jesus, was once a helpless baby in the warm womb of our mothers.

And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, full of grace and truth; we have beheld his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father.

- John 1:14