Lent officially begins with Ash Wednesday. Catholics around the world fast on Ash Wednesday and Fridays during Lenten season, they do not eat red meat on Fridays, which can be a difficult task. In addition, many Catholics give up a vice for Lent. Many choose to give up some of their favorite foods such as, soda, chocolate, junk food;or even social media. But this Lenten season, Pope Francis has asked people to reconsider giving up something that is superficial and instead think of ways they can give with their hearts.
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“No act of virtue can be great if it is not followed by advantage for others. So, no matter how much time you spend fasting, no matter how much you sleep on a hard floor and eat ashes and sigh continually, if you do no good to others, you do nothing great,” said the Pope.
Many times people give up their vices, thinking about how much “they” will miss chocolate or how much weight “they” might lose by giving this vice up for 40 days, but Pope Francis advices to fast from indifference towards others. Often we walk down the street without saying excuse me or thank you, or look the other way when someone is in need. The smallest gesture can make a world of a difference and that’s what the Pope wants us to focus on.
“Indifference to our neighbor and to God also represents a real temptation for us Christians. Each year during Lent we need to hear once more the voice of the prophets who cry out and trouble our conscience.” Pope Francis calls this the globalization of indifference, which is when our interior life becomes caught up in its own interests and concerns, leaving no room for others. “We end up being incapable of feeling compassion at the outcry of the poor, weeping for other people’s pain, and feeling a need to help them, as though all this were someone else’s responsibility and not our own,” he says.
With Valentine’s Day right around the corner, the beginning of Lent is a perfect time to learn how to love again, to learn to appreciate others. Before you decide what you’re going to give up for lent, it’s important to reflect on how you can make room to help others and help spread that message of love that will bring a smile on someone’s face.