“40 Days to Discover”

Article by A.E. Kate Lee

“40 days to discover” – Joe Kim

I think that is one of the most fitting ways to describe the season of Lent. The liturgical season of Lent is the period of 40 days before Easter. 40 days to discover. Why forty days? In the Bible, the number forty appears quite often – Moses spent 40 days on Mount Sinai with God; God made it rain for 40 days and 40 nights while Noah was in his ark; our Lord retreated and fasted for 40 days before He began His ministry.

We may make New Year’s resolutions, and promise ourselves that we will or won’t do this and that…but I, for one, can say that those never fare well. For LENT, however, it’s different. Not only is it 325 days less of promise-keeping, which makes it a little easier for us to stay true, but it is “a time for prayer, fasting, and almsgiving”. It’s a time of year set aside for us to sacrifice little things…but it’s not just about giving up things we like…for each thing we give up and take out of our day, we can add something better. Take Facebook out of your schedule and replace it with time to pray the Rosary. Take away the profanity and replace it with praise. Take away the whiney Korean love songs and replace them with Matt Maher! Our Lord carried a heavy wooden cross up Mt Calvary…we can carry our not-so-heavy, unseen sacrifices for forty days, right? Besides, God will be with us every step of the way!

So this Lenten season….

…If you’re going to pray the Rosary daily, you have 40 days to discover the power of prayer.

…If you’re going to read the Bible daily, you have 40 days to discover the Word of the Lord.

…If you’re going to exercise everyday, you have 40 days to discover how much fun it is.

…If you’re going to do at least one good deed a day, you have 40 days to discover how good it is to be kind.

…If you’re giving up Facebook, you have 40 days to discover what you can do with all the free time that you used to spend on Facebook.

…If you’re giving up AIM, you have 40 days to discover that a phone works equally well.

…If you’re giving up junk food, you have 40 days to discover the natural goodness that God meant for you to eat, instead of that mysterious, fried and re-fried, origin-unknown “food”.

…If you’re giving up meat, you have 40 days to discover how hard it is to be Korean without meat.

Whatever it is, when you give up all the material things, the comfortable things in life that we take for granted, anything and everything that might distract from prayer and love….you gain the chance to grow in God. Lent may last only 40 days, but what you discover will last MUCH longer.