Fasting During Lent: Are you doing enough?

Have you ever gone through Lent and ended up in Easter and thought to yourself, "Man that wasn't hard. In fact, it wasn't hard enough."?

It has happened to me many times. I give up some very minor things during Lent and when it's all over, I barely even notice. Examples of not giving up much include:

• No chocolate between 7pm and 8pm on Wednesdays and Fridays
• Having one less Coffee on the first day of the month.
• Going to Mass on Ash Wednesday instead of staying home

These are somewhat exaggerated to make a point. In reality, I once heard of a person who had given up one particular type of chocolate bar during Lent. That's it. Remember, they didn't give up snacking, or sweets, or even chocolate in general, they had given up one particular chocolate bar. They permitted themselves to eat ANY OTHER type of chocolate bar, but not this one particular kind. And I'm not saying milk chocolate, e.g. I mean something like Kit-Kat bars or Mars bars.

Now, once Lent is all said and done do you think this person can better relate to Jesus Christ and feel as though they accompanied him in the desert for 40 days? I somehow doubt it.

On the other hand, this person may have already been holy and sanctified that they didn't really need to give anything up and perhaps they were focusing more on doing more almsgiving or acts of charity, as opposed to "giving things up".

One thing that can get us through Lent is the prospect and thought of Easter. The hardships we are going through will be turned to joy and glory at Easter. Isn't that the point? Imagine doing something much greater this Lent than usual. Maybe not eating until after 3pm every day, maybe eating just one meal a day, maybe forgoing all snacks, or not eating meat on most days, etc.

Although I sometimes personally focus on the fasting aspect of Lent, there is also almsgiving and prayer which are equally important. And in all three it's important to know the reason we are doing these things. They are all meant to be done for love of Christ. If they are done primarily for reasons other than love of God, they are being done for the wrong reasons.

Once your trial is over and the glories of Easter are upon us, you will feel like a new creation!
Please provide your comments and feedback!