{"id":12733,"date":"2012-03-07T22:41:53","date_gmt":"2012-03-08T04:41:53","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.austincnm.com\/?p=12733"},"modified":"2012-03-07T22:46:38","modified_gmt":"2012-03-08T04:46:38","slug":"light-at-the-end-of-the-lenten-tunnel","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/index.php\/2012\/03\/light-at-the-end-of-the-lenten-tunnel\/","title":{"rendered":"Light at the End of the Lenten Tunnel"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>If I said Lent this year was easy, I’d be lying. Lent this year has been ridiculously difficult. Despair, acedia, and doubt have all flooded my Lenten journey.\u00a0I won’t go into the detail of what exactly my plight has been, but rather, where it’s brought me and what I hope the next 27 days will be like.<\/p>\n

I found that my\u00a0despair\u00a0had been the worst I’ve ever experienced because it was the hardest I ever cried out to God for refuge. I had felt so close to Jesus in the time around Ash Wednesday, as if I were in His embrace. But less than two weeks later, I felt separated and it was agonizing.<\/p>\n

Then when I somehow survived that agony, the small, subtle voice of apathy crept into the back of my mind. “You can skip your prayers tonight. It won’t hurt. You’ve done so well. One time isn’t bad. I’m so tired. I just want to sleep. I can catch up tomorrow when I’m rested.”<\/p>\n

And worse, the even smaller, most malicious voice said, “After all, what does it matter?”<\/p>\n

I’m\u00a0embarrassed\u00a0to say that I settled into that for a while. It was a struggle, but a half-hearted one. The feelings persisted, but I did go through the motions. I might not have been entirely as dedicated as I could have been though.<\/p>\n

If you’re feeling the same way, I wish I had an instant cure-all for you. I can say for certain though, that your faith will be so much stronger when you’re through it than when you started for one simple reason: you endured.<\/p>\n

For me endurance wasn’t an option – it was a necessity. Luckily, my wake-up call came in the form of a tweet from the lovely Jackie Francois, retweeted by Mark Hart:<\/p>\n

@LT_TheBiblegeek: Wow. Watch this! RT\u00a0@JackieFrancois\u00a0#<\/s>stopkony2012\u00a0and RT\u00a0http:\/\/vimeo.com\/m\/37119711<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

That video. Wow. Thirty minutes of slapped-in-the-face perspective. And then I remembered the most recent time I heard God’s voice. I was praying in adoration and reflecting on Matthew 22:37-39. By heart, I recited “You shall love the Lord, your God, with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.\u00a0This is the greatest and the first commandment.” But in a voice that gave me goosebumps, the Lord finished in my mind: “The second is like it:\u00a0You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”<\/strong><\/p>\n

Both the first time and when I watched the Kony video, I realized that I hadn’t been loving my neighbor as much as I could have. And suddenly all at once, I had the direction I had been begging God for.<\/p>\n

Now, I’m not saying that social justice is what is going to help you “feel better” about your faith. The Lord calls every person to his own path. But being called twice now has made my calling feel more certain. With that feeling of purpose, I can see the light at the end of the tunnel.<\/p>\n

If you’re feeling despair, please endure. Maybe the Kony video will be your wake up call, too or maybe the Lord is calling you to a totally different adventure. But first and most importantly, you must be willing to listen.<\/p>\n

The first step is the sacrament of\u00a0Reconciliation. You might not feel as if you need to, but that’s the acedia talking, which in itself is a deadly sin. From there, envelop yourself in the Eucharist. It is True Food.<\/p>\n

I think the reason we get so beaten down by these challenging times is because of how close we are to the Truth. We know His Love and it is impossible for us to live without it. The closer we get to God, the more apart of Him we become, and then the worse we feel without Him. Thankfully, He is still with us in these times, calling us to be even closer.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

If I said Lent this year was easy, I’d be lying. Lent this year has been ridiculously difficult. Despair, acedia, and doubt have all flooded my Lenten journey.\u00a0I won’t go into the detail of what exactly my plight has been, but rather, where it’s brought me and what I hope the next 27 days will… [Read More]<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"_wpas_customize_per_network":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[4,90],"tags":[638,639,591,2892],"class_list":{"0":"post-12733","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-blog","7":"category-faith-blog","8":"tag-hope","9":"tag-kony-2012","10":"tag-lent","11":"tag-social-justice","12":"entry","13":"has-post-thumbnail"},"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":44278,"url":"https:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/index.php\/2014\/03\/lent-40-days-40-ways\/","url_meta":{"origin":12733,"position":0},"title":"Lent: 40 Days and 40 Ways","author":"Lauren Gulde","date":"March 4, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"Every year I try to approach Lent anew. I don't want it to ever grow old. Lent holds a dear place in my heart, as it always reminds me of the days that brought me up to my joining the Catholic Church in 1994. Those emotional memories are strong, and\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "ACNM"","block_context":{"text":"ACNM","link":"https:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/index.php\/category\/acnm\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"lent 40 days and 40 ways","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.austincnm.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/03\/lent40daysand40ways.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":101478,"url":"https:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/index.php\/2015\/03\/what-my-husband-taught-me-about-lent\/","url_meta":{"origin":12733,"position":1},"title":"What My Husband Taught Me About Lent","author":"Britt Echtenkamp","date":"March 30, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"This Lenten season is the first one Danger and I have experienced as husband and wife. We began the season as brand new parents, and didn't spend much time discerning what our Lenten sacrifices would be, either\u00a0individually and as a couple. At first, I declared I would give up Sonic\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Blog"","block_context":{"text":"Blog","link":"https:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/index.php\/category\/acnm\/blog\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Face of Jesus","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.austincnm.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/03\/sufferingservant-184x190.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":36224,"url":"https:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/index.php\/2013\/02\/40-days-of-awesome-giving-up-more-than-beer-cokes-candy\/","url_meta":{"origin":12733,"position":2},"title":"40 Days of Awesome: Giving Up More Than Beer, Cokes & Candy","author":"Kathryn Whitaker","date":"February 12, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"Be reckless this Lent. Oh, I mean it. I\u2019m talking about the kind of reckless that\u2019s make you seek, without abandon, God\u2019s will. If St. Paul can do it, so can you. For far too many Lents, I\u2019ve done the traditional \u201cgive up beer, Cokes and candy.\u201d But, you know\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Blog"","block_context":{"text":"Blog","link":"https:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/index.php\/category\/acnm\/blog\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"lenten_tags","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.austincnm.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/02\/lenten_tags-300x200.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":11962,"url":"https:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/index.php\/2012\/02\/i-kinda-3-lent\/","url_meta":{"origin":12733,"position":3},"title":"I Kinda <3 Lent","author":"Rita Suva","date":"February 22, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"\"Remember, man you are dust and to dust you will return.\" \u2013Roman Missal, Imposition of Ashes So, I\u2019m a little bit crazy. My favorite \u201cCatholic holiday\u201d is the Easter Triduum, but most especially within that, Good Friday. Yeah, the day Jesus Christ died. Most people think that it\u2019s just a\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Blog"","block_context":{"text":"Blog","link":"https:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/index.php\/category\/acnm\/blog\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.austincnm.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/02\/Ash-Wednesday-201x300.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":38135,"url":"https:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/index.php\/2013\/03\/do-you-count-sundays-in-lent\/","url_meta":{"origin":12733,"position":4},"title":"Do You Count Sundays in Lent?","author":"Crist\u00f3bal Almanza Herrera","date":"March 1, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"I\u2019ve been very amazed to see the amount of Catholics that haven\u2019t been to mass in years yet still feel the need to give something up for Lent. I haven\u2019t seen any official polls, but it seems that this group is even larger than the ones that go to mass\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Faith"","block_context":{"text":"Faith","link":"https:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/index.php\/category\/acnm\/blog\/faith-blog\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Do You Count Sundays In Lent?","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.austincnm.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/03\/DoYouCountSundaysInLent-630x320.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":44563,"url":"https:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/index.php\/2014\/03\/slipping-lent-questions-lenten-sacrifices\/","url_meta":{"origin":12733,"position":5},"title":"Slipping Up in Lent – Questions about Lenten Sacrifices","author":"Crist\u00f3bal Almanza Herrera","date":"March 12, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"When we start Lent with a day like Ash Wednesday, it sets a somewhat somber tone for the season. This is a season of sacrifice, penance, prayer, fasting, and almsgiving. Definitely sounds like a no-fun zone. Thinking about doing something that makes you happy? Save it for Easter!\u00a0This is at\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Blog"","block_context":{"text":"Blog","link":"https:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/index.php\/category\/acnm\/blog\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Questions About Lenten Sacrifices","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.austincnm.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/03\/QuestionsAboutLentenSacrifices-630x419.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12733","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/10"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=12733"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12733\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12733"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=12733"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=12733"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}