In this Random Nun Clip, a listener asks if he gives up vaping for Lent, will it count, or does fasting only count if it's food. Hear the full Ask Sister episode AS227 at aNunsLife.org. Hosts: Sister Maxine and Sister Jane Aseltyne, IHM.
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Sister Jane Aseltyne, IHM, is a member of the Sisters, Servants of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, based in Monroe, Michigan. She entered the Novitiate in August 2017 and professed First Vows in August 2019. Before joining the IHM Sisters, she worked at A Nun's Life Ministry for four years. She previously ministered in health care and with at-risk youth. Sister Jane has a BA in Communications and is pursuing a Master's degree in Theology. Sister Jane was born and raised in southeast Michigan.
SISTER MAXINE: I am Sister Maxine and on the podcast today with me is a familiar face, or should I say a familiar voice, Sister Jane Aseltyne.
SISTER JANE: Hi everyone. It’s so good to be back with you.
SISTER MAXINE: We have a question that came in from Justin in Colorado. Justin writes: “This is my first time trying something for Lent. I was born Catholic, but my family never went to church, so the whole thing is new to me. I read that Lent includes fasting, so maybe I’ll give up vaping--or does fasting only count if you give up food?”
SISTER JANE: What a great question, seeing as we are just starting Lent.
SISTER MAXINE: Right. There is never a bad time or a late time to really engage with a Lenten practice. For Justin, first of all, it’s wonderful to hear that Lent is speaking to your heart already, and that even though you’re not a church-goer, it sounds like, there is something that is calling you to this spiritual practice around Lent.
SISTER JANE: Yes. I think that’s really amazing of you, Justin, that you are looking to follow that call within you. Like Sister Maxine said, there is never a bad time to start a Lenten practice. If you have been thinking about giving up vaping for a while now, or just starting to think about it because it’s Lent, we definitely encourage you to take that step. You might even feel better by giving up vaping. For those of you who don’t know what vaping is, it is just the use of electronic cigarettes. Anything that could help benefit your health would be an excellent practice.
SISTER MAXINE: And save you a few dollars.
SISTER JANE: And save you a few dollars, exactly.
SISTER MAXINE: Justin is asking us, does fasting only count if you give up food? I would say vaping would totally count. It doesn’t necessarily have to be food.
SISTER JANE: No, it doesn’t. When we talk about Lent, we have three different practices of fasting, almsgiving, and prayer. Fasting is one thing that we focus on during Lent. I think traditionally it gets associated with giving up food or chocolate or something like that, but now as we go broader with fasting, it can mean giving up other things as well.
SISTER MAXINE: For example, for me in the past, I have tried to give up being impatient.
SISTER JANE: How’s that working for you? (laughter)
SISTER MAXINE: No comments over there! (laughter) When I talk about giving up something like that, it’s because I want my life to be richer in patience, to have patience. It’s that time for me where I can intentionally cultivate the values in myself that I would want. Not that I don’t do that throughout the year, but Lent, for some reason, I feel like I’m doing it with a team, too.
SISTER JANE: Absolutely. Yes, it’s that communal effort.
SISTER MAXINE: Yes. I know other people are striving as well.
SISTER JANE: Yes. For me, one Lent, I gave up Netflix completely. That was hard, because I wanted to add something to my life that I felt was missing, and that was time away from the screen. It’s easy for me to watch Netflix on my computer and be on my phone at the same time. I felt like I was getting overwhelmed with screen time, so I gave up Netflix and replaced it with reading an actual book, or spending time with friends, or spending some extra time in prayer, or spending time in my community.
SISTER MAXINE: So for Justin in can be like a both/and. Maybe it is that when you are able to give up vaping, it will create a space for more exercise in your life.
SISTER JANE: Absolutely. Yes.
SISTER MAXINE: I know that giving up smoking is really tough.
SISTER JANE: Yes. I’ve heard that too.
SISTER MAXINE: We’ll be saying extra prayers for Justin and praying that he finds a supportive community, because if your friends are vaping, it makes it even harder.
SISTER JANE: Absolutely. This might be the perfect time, during Lent, to feel like you have that community surrounding you who is also making strides to either give something up in their life that has been holding them back, or that they would like to just do something different with, or people who are also experiencing Lent in a newer, more profound way than they have in the past. It sounds like you might be, Justin, even though you haven’t been going to church, you are still being called to something. This might be a great time to explore your local parish and see what Lent activities or prayers that they have going on.
SISTER MAXINE: When you mentioned the three parts of Lent, for Justin, they sort of work together real well.
SISTER JANE: They do, yes.
SISTER MAXINE: So, you may find as you deal with the issue of vaping in your life, you may find that extra time in prayer will help you and will kind of strengthen you for that difficult journey.
SISTER JANE: There are a lot of good resources about Lent. One of the resources I like to use is from Loyola Press. They send out a daily email with the readings for the day and then they give you a little reflection. Some of the reflections are video reflections. Most of them are written. Then they invite you to take that next step in prayer. It just lasts through the 40 days of Lent. You’ll get it sent right to your inbox. It’s really a great way to connect with the community and to incorporate that prayer practice into your life.
SISTER MAXINE: We have a number of those kinds of resources listed on our website too. It just is helpful to have a variety of things. You make the Lent season more fulfilling.
SISTER JANE: Be gentle with yourself in it, too.
SISTER MAXINE: That’s a good point, especially with something like vaping. A lot of times people will try to quit smoking in general. It may not be the first time. It may take the second time, and it may take the third time, but I think the situation is to trust in yourself and to just persevere.
SISTER JANE: Exactly.
SISTER MAXINE: That’s what the Lenten journey is about as well.
SISTER JANE: Taking that one day at a time. I have found too, in other years of Lent, that if I have given up something, or even if I have added a practice into my life, marking the days off on the calendar is very helpful.
SISTER MAXINE: Yes. It’s helpful because even as we hope that our Lenten practices will go far beyond the end of Lent, sometimes that’s what it can take to kind of keep it going. Often for Lent, I will go out and do a walk every day, no matter what the weather is like.
SISTER JANE: Oooh, that can be scary.
SISTER MAXINE: There were some times when I would do the old check-it-off-the-calendar too, because sometimes when it was cold and kind of dark and snowy, I would be like, ooohh, I don’t know that God wants me to go for this walk today. (laughter)
SISTER JANE: God wants me to stay in my nice warm house. (laughter)
SISTER MAXINE: And watch Netflix. (laughter)
SISTER JANE: And watch Netflix! (laughter)
SISTER MAXINE: But I did that very thing. I would check it off my list. For some reason it helped me, so I used different tools to kind of keep myself going.
SISTER JANE: It makes it feel like progress. Once you get a substantial number of check marks on your calendar, you don’t want to break the streak.
SISTER MAXINE: That’s right. And then, by the end of Lent, I didn’t even really need the check marks because I had just oriented myself to finding a joy in that. Yes, it may be cold out, but I’ll bundle up, I’ll go outside. If it’s a sunny day, I’ll appreciate that. If there’s a few snowflakes, I’ll appreciate that. It was almost like, at that point, my Lenten sacrifice—you know how in scripture they talk about a sacrifice of gratitude? It was like I had to just give up being cold and kind of ornery sometimes. (laughter)
SISTER JANE: Ice and snow, bless the Lord.
SISTER MAXINE: (laughter) Exactly. To look at it as, “I am so fortunate to be able to go out and walk around. To be able to see the sky and appreciate the outdoors.”
SISTER JANE: Exactly. And see what that invitation has for you.
SISTER MAXINE: On an ongoing basis in my life. So, in that regard, Lent is also very much about developing that disposition. The values that you want to have as the first go-to. Let gratitude be my first response. I still did complain, I will grant you that. Like, “Oh, it’s really cold.” I did.
SISTER JANE: Well, we are in Toledo. (laughter) That’s our winters. There’d be something wrong with you if you didn’t complain. (laughter)
SISTER MAXINE: But I also recognized that, at some point, it was okay to give it up and have a sacrifice of gratitude.
SISTER JANE: I love that, thinking of sacrifice as a way to give thanks. Not that we’re losing something, but that we’re actually gaining a different disposition.
To hear full episodes of A Nun’s Life podcasts, visit the podcast page at anunslife.org/podcasts.
This transcript has been lightly edited for readability.
