What can you do for Lent?

Sister Rejane  
This Random Nun Clip is brought to you by A Nun's Life Ministry.

Sister Julie  
Well now, Sister, the great season of Mardi Gras is coming up. As you prepare for that, as well as for Lent, I was wondering what you were thinking. We had been talking last week in the chat room, and a few people brought up some of their ideas about getting ready for Lent. And I could not believe that Lent was actually next week. So we thought we'd talk a little bit about it --mostly so that I can get ideas of what to do.

Sister Maxine  
Now, if you’re talking about the Tuesday before Lent, I think paczki is the answer.

Sister Julie  
[Laughter] Sister, I have to watch my figure.

Sister Maxine  
In the chat room, earlier in the week, Regina wrote, "I'd like to pray for people who are discerning their Lenten disciplines for this year." And she said, "I always pick something too hard, and I am much better with making changes when it's not Lent. So I'm thinking of committing myself to praying the Examen every day," which is something she's wanted to do for a while. And she's thinking about giving up multitasking when at home, like not having the TV on when she's reading a book and not being online, like on Facebook, while she's watching a TV show. Just being present. Sort of like what you were talking with prayer.

Sister Julie  
Yeah, I like that. Because I know a lot of people give up Facebook or email, and I want to give up all of those, but I can't, it's my job. But I like I like her idea about being present to something. Those things are certainly important to do, especially if you're a little addicted to it, and it gets in the way of schoolwork or relationships or something like that. I like that idea of not doing all these things at once. Savoring the thing that you're doing, whatever it is.

Sister Mary Jane  
I like the word discipline. I think that discipline in this regard brings us back to who we are as Catholics. It's a time for us to realign our hearts and our minds, to a better understanding of God. And any way that we can make efforts in that, I think it adds to our presence to one another. And it helps us to be able to grow as well.

Sister Maxine  
One thing I like about Lent is, you know, it's sort of like New Year's. For New Year's, a lot of people make resolutions -- hopefully, it will last throughout the year. And the same is true for Lent, that this is something that could have a life-changing effect. And so for me, how I engage whatever discipline I would use for Lent, whatever practice, hopefully that will permeate the whole rest of my life. I may choose to try to cultivate a deeper sense of compassion in myself. So hopefully, that'll be with me throughout the rest of the year and continue to grow.

Sister Julie  
Now, we'd love to hear from folks here at Notre Dame, if you've got any ideas about what you're thinking about for Lent. And while you're thinking about that, just migrate towards the microphone. I'll read one comment that came in from our chat room. Marcia says she doesn't do a lot of giving up during Lent. She says, "Although I do try to simplify. But often I try to do something extra, like an extra hour of prayer, some spiritual reading, etc." So I mean, that's a different way to look at it instead of backing off of something that might not be good for you, or maybe you're doing too much of, to actually do something that is positive.

Sister Maxine  
Like maybe a couple extra hours of homework.

Sister Julie  
Couple extra cups of coffee.

Sister Maxine  
Write a couple extra research papers for the heck of it.

Sister Julie  
That's beautiful, Sister Maxine.

Sister Mary Jane  
Just what they need to hear. Yeah. On Friday night.

Sister Julie  
So any thoughts about Lent from you folks? Have you thought about it? Or are you just kind of focused in on Mardi Gras?

Sister Mary Jane  
Jacqueline?

Jacqueline  
Yeah, I actually had this conversation last night at dinner with some of the people in this room. So I was thinking, I tend to try and do, like the lady who just shared, that one additional thing. And for the past couple years, that's been writing a note each day to somebody in my life who has been a positive influence or had a positive impact. And just to say thank you, and oftentimes it's kind of, "Hi, I haven't talked to you in a long time." So that I've really enjoyed, and I like it because it helps me get back into touch with people I haven't talked to in a while. And then the thing that I was mentioning last night that I am going to try and give up which will be incredibly hard for me, though I'm sure not hard for any of the other girls in the room, is giving up the snooze button.

Sister Maxine  
That's a tough one!

Jacqueline  
Yeah, probably waste a good 30, 45 minutes a morning snoozing. And then I don't just set one alarm. It's like my phone goes off three times and my alarm goes off. About every two minutes I'm knocking the alarm or hitting my phone, so.

Sister Julie  
I can send you a very loud cat that would be very happy to help you in that that regard.

Jacqueline  
That is so kind! Thanks!

Sister Maxine  
Okay. Now people are saying, "Give up the snooze? Yikes!" here in the chat room. Marcia's like, "Give up the snooze button? Now that is serious mortification." So a lot of people I think will be praying for you as you do that.

Sister Julie  
Another thought about Lent.

Nikki  
I actually have a question for you. I'm in a Food and Culture class this semester. And we recently talked about Lenten promises, and the dining halls here on Fridays do not serve meat. And we were discussing whether for it to be a meaningful Lenten promise, you'd still need the temptation there. So I was wondering if you had thoughts about that.

Sister Mary Jane  
Good question, Nikki. Well, it kind of seems like it's already been done for you, if they don't serve the meat. You don't have the choice to be able to say, "I'd really want a hot dog tonight." Or maybe you do. You can go out and get a hot dog. Your choice of food isn't limited to the dining hall here. So that there are always other outside venues where you could have to make that real effort to avoid it. For me, I think the no meat probably is a little bit more difficult. And even on a Friday, that's when you really want it.

Sister Julie  
Why is that always the case? Like I'd just die for a hamburger on Fridays?

Sister Mary Jane  
It's not available. That's why. It's a no-no. But I still think that the whole point is the overcoming of self. And how, as you're making that intention, it's an intention for a greater good. It's not that, by my giving up this meat, that's the greater good. The greater good is I'm overcoming myself, my desire for this meat today.

Sister Maxine  
Part of that, too, is not just to prove to yourself that you can do it, that you can walk away from that pork chop, for example. But that it doesn't have control over you. And so that you free yourself, and you have confidence that you can free yourself, not just from the pork chop but from other things in life that may not be life-giving -- a desire to spend too much time texting. These things, I think, we cultivate gradually in our lives. And I think it's a good example: if we're looking at the meat on Friday thing, and we can take that on as one thing to cultivate that deeper sense in ourselves that we do have control, we can make choices in our life, we are not at the mercy of things that we may want temporarily.

Sister Julie  
Now, another way to look at this: when I was when I lived on the North Side, I was working for a Catholic publishing company. And so every Friday, you know, we'd always kind of look around, see who was the good Catholic -- it was kind of a fun game. But anyways, one of the local grocery stores had a great, you know, kind of deli type thing or you can get mac and cheese and stuff like that. But every Friday, they would always add multiple vegetarian options. And to me, it was such a nice sign of respect and recognition. I mean, certainly not everyone in the area was Catholic, but there was a certain recognition. So I guess for me, if the cafeteria decided to do that, I guess I would look to the respect that's being shown and take that as an affirmation of what I'm trying to do that other people are supporting me in that. So I think you can look at it a couple of different ways to see what you can take from that.

Sister Mary Jane  
And Sister Julie, will you miss meat during Lent this year?

Sister Julie  
I always miss meat. I became a vegetarian a couple of years ago. Especially with pizza sitting there, it's one of the hardest things: pepperoni and my grandmother's meatballs. My grandmother's Italian, she's since passed away, but oh my God, I miss those so much. And it's interesting because the culture of not eating meat on Fridays still affects me even after two years. So I certainly do miss it, and I still crave those hamburgers on Friday. And I guess for me, giving up meat obviously isn't a big deal. But for me, it's continuing to try to find healthy alternatives for being a vegetarian and making sure that I do have a healthy diet and things like that, that I don't do sometimes during Lent. It gives me time to refocus on that stuff and really try to acknowledge and to understand the reasons why we're meatless on Fridays and to understand what the basis is for that and try to incorporate that into my Lenten discipline.

Sister Maxine  
If you're a vegetarian, shouldn't you have to give up mushrooms or something? Bread? Something!

Sister Julie  
Oh my God, bread? Don't even say it, Sister.

Sister Maxine  
That's sacrilege.

Sister Julie  
That is sacrilege. Not the bread or the wine, please. Someone mentioned coffee. Sister Maxine and I are both coffee addicts. You're not so much, are you, Sister Mary Jane?

Sister Mary Jane  
I don't touch it.

Sister Maxine  
I think God wants coffee for us. I really do.

Sister Julie  
Sister Mary Jane is one of the blessed who does not have that.

Sister Mary Jane  
Yes, one of the blessed that likes hops instead of coffee. [laughter]

Sister Julie  
Yeah, it happens.

Sister Maxine  
So I want to mention real quick, because it is a fabulous little book. Bishop Ken Untener, who died a number of years ago, has these -- they're called Little Books. It's a series, and he's got one on Lent. And it's a real practical, informative, handy little booklet. Everything A to Z, Lent. And it's on www.littlebooks.org. So it's a very practical and thoughtful way, even for somebody who's not really, so to say, into the Lent thing. It's a great way to think about doing a little bit of a spiritual tune-up, a little bit of meaning tune-up.

Sister Mary Jane  
And Ken Untener was a bishop in Michigan. And what he did was, he became Bishop and he lived out of his car. He sold the bishop's residence so that the diocese would have that money, and then he went and lived with different priests around the diocese. I think the guy is a saint. So maybe that book would be a great thing for all of us to tune into.

Sister Julie  
And I think they're relatively inexpensive. I know a lot of parishes and other communities have them for free, but I think you can get them for like a buck or a couple bucks at the most.

Sister Maxine  
Yeah, I think they're $4.50 a copy.

Sister Julie  
Off the top of your head.

Sister Maxine  
Off the top of my head. If you order between one and five of them. [laughter]

Sister Julie  
You get a 10% discount if you order more than that. [laughter]

Sister Maxine  
And if you call now ...

Sister Julie  
We'll throw in the pork chops for free. [laughter] Oh wait, that's Advent, not Lent. [laughter]

Sister Rejane  
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