Have a gameplan to make the most of Lent's final weeks

Lent can certainly seem like a drudgery for much of the time.  Some of us possibly fell a bit short on some of our Lenten disciplines and offerings—at least I did.
The good news is that we can finish strong.  Athletes don’t give up when they’re trailing in the final minutes of a game. Rather, they pluck up some resolve and dive back.  Maybe we can learn from this mindset.
If we fell short, let’s ask ourselves, “What went wrong?”  Did we set ourselves up for failure by being overly optimistic about our ability to add prayer, to fast or give to the poor.  Maybe what we need are realistic goals for the next couple of weeks. Let’s not automatically assume we should end all of our Lenten promises.  If we have had some successes or formed some good habits, let’s hang on to those and build on them. 
Another tip I offer is this: get a partner.  We fare better when we have an accountability partner; someone to encourage and challenge us.  God made us for communion (ultimately with God for all eternity).  We should not try to grow without someone who can help motivate you and call you to be faithful to your goals.  There are powers and principalities who would love to see us fall short and give up.  Don’t face all of those forces and our own entropy on top of it.
Lastly, let’s not beat ourselves up over unfulfilled attempts at prayer, fasting and almsgiving.  Acknowledge the shortcomings, ponder what mistakes you made, pick yourself up and try again.  A saint can be defined as someone who gets up one time more often than he or she is knocked down.  As the iconic basketball coach, Jim Valvano said, “Don’t give up … don’t ever give up!”
— Pat Arensberg is the Director of the Office for Evangelization and Family Life. Email him at [email protected]. For more information concerning the events of this office, visit us at mobilefaithformation.org