By Fr Joshan Rodrigues –
We are into the third week of Lent and it’s time to evaluate our Lenten observances. It’s not uncommon to have failed after having resolutely and faithfully followed our Lenten practices for the first few days. So what should I do?
Easy – make an examination of conscience and start over. The first step is to ask yourself why you aren’t able to stick to the plan. What are the obstacles that are keeping you from prayerfully keeping the season of Lent. Second, spend time in prayer and offer these obstacles to the Lord and ask for His assistance. Third, fast from food for a day to mark the beginning of your renewal and to orient yourself in the right direction. Fourth, it is sometimes recommended to have maybe a page with the days of Lent printed out, so that you can tick off at the end of each day. This would also serve as a little diary to write down the struggles that you’ve had with your Lenten observances that day.
Read related article: #Lent – Fast. Pray. Love
In my previous article before Lent began, I spoke about ‘digital fasting’ and the importance of keeping the three traditional Lenten practices – fasting, prayer and almsgiving. Pope Francis in his message for the season of Lent, explains why these three practices are invaluable and also timeless. Fasting has become creative today, with words like ‘digital’ fast, ‘Netflix’ fast, ‘chocolate’ fast, and others being mentioned regularly. All well and good. But we must ask ourselves if we are merely entering into these fasts to avoid doing the ‘real’ fasting, prayer and almsgiving. A ‘digital’ fast must go along with regular fasting, it should not be substituting it.
I would like to make a little parenthesis here and go to the biblical passage of Jesus’ temptation in the desert, before the start of his public ministry (Matthew 4: 1-11). Each time, the devil begins with the words: “If you are the Son of God…” This is telling, because the real temptation is not food, power and prestige, but severing His relationship with God. The devil wants Jesus to deny His Father. In the traditional sense, it is the father who provides food for his children, it is the father who protects his children and gives them a sense of stability and security, it is the father who gives his children possessions and a perspective towards making one’s place in the world. Therefore, the real temptation that Jesus is put through is His relationship with God, the Father. From my relationship with my father also comes my own self-identity. Hence, if this lifeline is destroyed, I am unsure of who I am and what is my place in the world. (Have you noticed how many Hollywod movies there are about estranged fathers trying to get back with their children? I don’t recall any about mothers in a similar story line).
The season of Lent, in the same way, is to restore our broken relationship with God, our heavenly Father. If we cannot fast, if we cannot obey God’s will, if we cannot pray, if we cannot see God in our brothers and sisters, do we really have a relationship with Him? I may be publicly known as a Christian, as God’s son or daughter, but do I really relate to Him as my Father? This is why the Lenten observances are of great importance.
But I want to get back now to ‘Digital Fasting’. In light of the above passage, let’s call it the ‘Digital Desert’ experience. Winding down on our social media activities during Lent could help us tremendously to rediscover our relationships with our friends and acquaintances. Many sociologists have pointed out, that very often, our social media presence serves to feed our self-esteem, to not miss out on what others are doing (FOMO – Fear Of Missing Out syndrome) and to constantly remind others of my existence. Don’t Forget Me! In our physical solitude, we could feel lost and alone if we are not connected to our friends online. in short, we may be online to avoid anxiety, but ironically, what we do to avoid anxiety is actually fuelling it more. Social media could be attacking the roots of my self-identity and my relationships with others. It’s interesting to note, (and some people I know have testified to this), that if you go off social media, say for a month, without informing anyone that you are…you will expect that people will miss you, feel your absence and contact you to see what’s happening. However, quite to the contrary, some people have realised that no one misses them! This is a great eye-opener.
Now it is not necessary that everyone keeps a digital fast. I went off Facebook and Instagram last year during the season of Lent, and it proved to be a great spiritual and reflective experience. It helps you remember that you can continue to live your normal life without being on social media, and contrary to popular belief, you can continue to maintain relationships with your friends. You don’t miss out on much really! Watching what people are doing on Facebook is quite entertaining. When we do not have pictures to post, we are taking quizzes and seeing what the future holds for us (lol). Of course, it’s all in jest and good fun, but we want to play the quizzes to see who are my most loyal friends, who will I marry, where will I be in 20 years, which animal best describes me, etc. I’ve been cringing recently, watching people post how they would look if they belonged to the opposite sex! Really?!
So even if I decide to not go off social media for Lent, there are a few things I can do which will reflect my Lenten posture in my online interactions:
- It’s difficult to go from 50 to 0 in one shot, so do it gradually. Promise yourself to check your social media feed only a few times a day, at fixed hours. Maybe once in the morning, once after lunch and finally, once after dinner. And don’t spend more than 10-15 mins at each time. In a survey I conducted recently in Mumbai, more than 50 percent of the respondents said that they rarely met their friends in person, while 65 percent said that they check their messages and social media feed many times a day. Maybe it’s time to change that.
- Try giving up one social media channel. Maybe the one that you think you spend most time on. But you could be on another one to stay in touch with your friends. The principle here is graduality, not all or nothing.
- While on social media, be mindful of what you are doing. You could actually post pictures of your family, or personally message people whom you’ve been out of touch with for a long time. What about talking about God and your faith for a change. Use the time to look up interesting catholic videos, articles and pictures and deepen your faith. There are plenty on Facebook, for instance. Bishop Robert Barron and the Word on Fire Catholic Ministries, Catholic-Link, Aleteia, Indian Catholic Matters, EWTN and even the Vatican channel. How about sharing these for a change, instead of sharing how you would look as a girl!
- Even when it comes to things like Netflix, the principle is graduality and rationing. A priest whom I know here, accompanies a group of Italian youth. He told me that many of them were addicted to binge watching Netflix shows. So, as a Lenten observance, he’s not ordered them off Netflix completely, but asked them to restrict their viewing to one episode a day.
There is much that can be said, but I think you get the gist. So, if you’ve lost your way a bit, it’s never too late to start over with new gusto and spirit. Wish you a Happy and Holy Lenten season.
Fr Joshan Rodrigues is from the Archdiocese of Bombay, India. He is currently studying Institutional and Church Communications at the Pontifical Holy Cross University in Rome. Travelling, reading and social media are his passions. His drive is to make Church teaching more accessible to younger audiences and he holds G.K. Chesterton, Bishop Robert Barron and the Venerable Fulton Sheen among his role models for this task. He analyses different aspects of daily Christian life and culture through catholic lenses in his blog, Musings in Catholic Land.