David O'Brien: Things I Gave Up for Lent

This Lent, I wanted to go hardcore, up the ante a bit. I considered a 40 day bread and water fast but I am trying to go low-carb. So I decided to eat only salads.

This would require some creativity. Who can survive on iceberg lettuce and romaine hearts for 40 days? Yes, Jesus only ate what the angels fed him in the desert but I’m not that connected. Besides, maybe they fed him Rock Lobster tails and a nice Tortellini dish with homemade basil and olive oil sauce. Ok, probably not, unless they were Italian angels.

Salads can be filling. In ten days of experimenting, I have had the following for breakfast: fruit salad, egg salad, salad cereal, salad with cottage cheese, yogurt salad, a salad shake, a juiced salad, waffl e salad which is similar to soft croutons but with a hint of maple syrup drizzled on top, pancake salad (see waffl e salad) and oatmeal salad. That last one was pretty nasty. I can’t even bring myself to try a grits salad.

Lunch has been easier but no less creative. Have you ever had a peanut butter and jelly salad? It is not half bad. Of course there has been tuna salad, pasta salad, shrimp salad, and taco salad, potato salad, cole slaw salad, broccoli salad, three bean salad, two bean salad, one bean salad (I have reduced my bean intake for the sake of my wife and children.).

Some less mainstream entrees have included: quesadilla salad, soup salad which is kind of like vegetable soup on steroids, leftovers heaped on top of my salad, rice and beans salad, a salad rolled up into a tortilla, a salad sandwich, a salad wrapped inside a big piece of lettuce, and my favorite, a nut and sunflower seed salad. Anything with a crunch and texture is a treat.

Some years ago, a guy made a documentary fi lm called "Super Size Me" where he ate nothing but McDonalds for 30 days. I am thinking about making a similar documentary. I might call it: "Green to the Xtreme".

What does all this have to do with Lent? Is Lent just a game of self will and obsessing about what we cannot have? Or is this sacred season a chance to honestly consider where we are with God and our life of Christian discipleship?

Too often, I fear, we turn these 40 days into simply another thing we do as Catholics. Go to Church. Check. Put the envelope into the basket. Check. Support Catholic Charities. Check. Avoid chocolate during Lent. Check. What’s the point?

The reason we give things up for Lent is so that every time we think about that snack, TV show or beer, we are reminded to seek God and His will for our lives.

Lenten deprivations help us to take the focus off ourselves, slow down, consciously alter our lifestyles and stop playing religious games with God. Do we really believe God cares if we ate a hotdog on Friday during Lent in 1984?

But I would bet that God cares about whether I am turning into the person He created me to be. God cares if I know that He loves me and I can trust Him with my life. God also cares if I use my gifts-my health, my education, my energy, my money, my passions and even my Lenten sacrifices-to help move this world towards the community God envisioned from the very beginning.

St. Gregory the Great said: "Fast, then, by doing what you do with love... What you take from yourself give to someone else so that your needy neighbor’s body may be restored by the affl iction of your own."

So, according to St. Gregory, what we give up for Lent ought to result in a greater capacity to love, which means we are becoming more like God. Our sacrifices should free us up to think about others and use our resources for others, especially those in harm’s way.

Is Lent bringing me closer to these things? Right now, probably not. Maybe my time chopping vegetables would be better spent sitting silently in front of a crucifi x and then acting on what Jesus tells me to do? It sounds like I need to re-evaluate my Lenten sacrifices. My intestines are taking a beating anyway.

About David O’Brien David O’Brien is the Associate Director of Religious Education for Lay Ministry for the Archdiocese of Mobile. His column, Everyday Faith, appears regularly in the archdiocesan newspaper, the Catholic Week. Email David at dobrien@mobilearchdiocese.org.