Normally, I dread Ash Wednesday. It signifies that it's time to give something up, be more disciplined, and I cannot stand the sermons given this day. The readings seem overly negative to me. This year, I tried a different church and I was immensely surprised. While the readings remained the same, the conclusions the priest came to were wonderful. He started by mentioning that everyone asks Catholics the same question: what are you giving up for Lent? While he did say that giving something up helps us to be more disciplined, something we all need, he said that it's not going to get us into Heaven any faster. God was very clear with what we had to do: love ourselves and love our neighbors like ourselves. The most important part of Lent is to do good deeds.

I left mass feeling full of love and hope for the next 40 days. While I'm still giving up something for Lent, my view of it has changed. In the past, I focused on taking up part of the cross, going to the stations of the cross, and thinking about all of the awful things Jesus endured for our salvation. I had never considered that by doing good deeds, I could prevent others from sinning, thus lightening humanity's sins. Instead of repenting after the fact, I can do preventive good deeds.

Therefore, my coworker and I will be doing one good deed a day for Lent. So far it has made me happier each day and it keeps me focused on bringing love into the world. I don't think I'll stop after Lent ends. Here's what I've done so far:

2/22 Ash Wednesday: Give parents a nice lotion
2/23: Bring muffins to my dad's work; buying a video game for my boyfriend
2/24: Driving my boyfriend to the university; making chocolate chip cookies for my friends


Are you doing something good this season? Do you have any ideas for good deeds I can do?