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I am giving up chocolate.....I am kidding.

I think as Catholics who are hopefully mature we need to stop thinking about Lent in a superficial sense. Of course, as children, it is good to give up small things because it will instill in us the idea of sacrifice for some great good. However, as adults we need to have a more noble vision of what Lent and what penance in general signifies for the Christian life.

Our nature pulls towards disordered passions and what is evil. Lent can restore a sense of integrity in ours souls -- to give us in some way a glimpse of what Adam was given when he was created.

What good is it to "give up" so many things if we have not searched the depths of our souls for the predominant vices that stifle us on the path towards perfection? -- something we are all called to achieve.

Lent is a time for metanoia -- a time for conversion of heart. By our own conversion we can perhaps lead a few souls to the pearl of great price.

I found this quote somewhere:

"Don't say to me, I fasted for so many days. I did not eat this or I did not eat that. I did not drink wine, and speak of what an endurance that was. Instead, show me, that if you were an angry man, you became gentle. If you were a cruel man, that you have become benevolent. If you are filled with anger, why chasten the flesh? If hatred and avarice are within you, of what benefit is it that you drink water instead of wine? Don't put forth a useless fast, for fasting alone does not win for you a place in heaven." - St. John Chrysostom