Doing a Good Deed Every Day for Lent

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Tis_Bearself

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I read on one of the other Lent threads about the Scout promise to do a good deed every day. I vaguely remember reading about this in the distant past. Unfortunately by the time I was in Scouts for a couple of years, it had gone by the wayside bigtime.

I thought maybe it would be a good Lent project for me to try to do this every day. I started today to get in the habit. Anybody else want to do this for Lent? It’s tougher than it looks because often people aren’t exactly appreciative, which is a good way of keeping us humble and reminding us we’re doing it for Jesus.
 
What sort of good deeds? It’s hard for me to think sometimes of what that would look like. Lot of days I might not even talk to anyone else.
 
I kind of thought, that maybe I would not pass by or drive by any homeless people or people asking for a ride without at least talking to them. If I couldn’t help them (which, I am broke myself), then maybe I’d offer to pray with them. I’m sure that wouldn’t happen every day. But, if it was part of my Lenten Observance, I’m sure it would happen 3-5 times at least.

Other than that, yeah, I also don’t know exactly what other kind of good deeds you’d be doing?
 
Here’s some stuff I thought of so far:
  • Pray an extra prayer (like an extra Divine Mercy chaplet, something that takes time) for someone
  • Compliment someone or show your appreciation in some way (like a big tip)
  • Buy a homeless person a coffee or snack, if they want one (I prefer this to giving money)
  • Or just pay somebody’s bill in a restaurant or in the Walmart line, etc.
  • Donate to a charity (money, goods, your time)
  • Do something extra to help someone at work, if your workplace allows it (sometimes this is not allowed and you’re not to go outside your responsibility level)
  • Visit with somebody who doesn’t have much company, like an elderly person
  • Look in your church bulletin for charitable stuff going on and volunteer to help if you can
I’m sure there’s lots more stuff you could do…maybe a younger person could help others with yard work or something, I’m not really able to do that physically, but a 20-year-old could

If anybody else has suggestions, please post.
I was actually inspired to do this because some homeless panhandler who was hassling everybody at the convenience store asked me for “60 cents”, you know that means they hope you’ll make it a dollar or five, and I said “no” because I had had a really bad, stressful day dealing with having to put someone in a nursing home and make plans for cleaning out their apartment, and I could tell this guy was going to hit me up as he was following people around the store, and it was the second time that day I’d been followed around and hit up there, and so I said “no” nicely because I don’t like giving cash to panhandlers and he was making me feel stressed and unsafe, but I felt bad about it later. I should have at least offered to buy him a sandwich.
 
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Interesting. One thing I’ve been thinking is sending emails to people who’ve been positive influences in my life (like our RCIA team). Several good priests I imagine would appreciate a letter like that.
 
Yeah, that’s a good idea. Just show some appreciation for people we usually take for granted.

You who have spouses or families could easily do a little extra chore or leave your family member an uplifting note. I don’t have anyone to do that for anymore, which is why i’m trying to kind of reach outside myself and see God in people who maybe don’t have anybody either.
 
“Do a good turn daily”… Well I remember that from the Scouts. It’s a pity that organization has fallen on hard times in the US, but it’s of their own doing.

In any case, that old habit is designed to help young men see all the opportunities to be helpful in the society around them and to be of service as the need arises. To have a Lenten plan to do so is somewhat different as, on top of meeting the needs of the moment, we’re actually planning some deeds to do, and I would particularly stress almsdeeds here.

I sometimes think that almsgiving isn’t stressed enough as part of our Lenten discipline. Even when the fasting rules were much stricter, so many classes of persons were made exempt from them that few probably received the spiritual benefit of bodily penance. Almsgiving, however, could then make up for the same exemptions and can still make up for our now relaxed fasting regime. There are now so many deserving charities and straightened Catholic schools and colleges that opportunities to give alms abound. One great almsdeed that is often overlooked is providing the poor or the wavering with subscriptions to Catholic magazines or newspapers – or even gifting a subscription to a local library.

Planning not to purchase something – a certain food, alcoholic beverages, clothing, travel, entertainment, etc. – and budgeting the money saved towards alms takes some foresight. Many do the former (“giving something up for Lent”), but too few do the latter, even though the two go together quite naturally. It’s great that you’re looking at this as early as Septuagesima week – so the holy season doesn’t creep up on you – and starting to plan what to do. I would commend such a plan to anyone.
 
It would be impossible for me but it is great that you will try it.

The best good deed I received from work once was painkillers from a colleague when I had a terrible headache, sound trivial but it wasn’t on that day.

I’m going to read the bible every day during Lent though.
 
I give alms year round so I’m kind of trying to see more opportunities for reaching out to individuals and being kind. It’s relatively easy for me to hit a donate button. Not so easy for me to make myself go out and converse with someone.
 
Reading the Bible is a great thing to do too. If you read for a half hour you can get a plenary indulgence (under the usual conditions) to give to the Holy Souls. If you read for less than a half hour or don’t meet all the conditions, then as long as you are in a state of Grace when you read you can still get a partial and give that to the Holy Souls.
 
@Tis_Bearself, you might look up images of Lenten good deed calendars online – there usually are a bunch available, often to help families. This one is from 2016 but you get the idea:

(Please Note: This uploaded content is no longer available.)
 
Yes, I am a woman and as a child I was in the Girl Scouts in USA, famous nationwide for their annual cookie sales. I understand they may have been called Girl Guides or something else in some other country, but in USA they have been the Girl Scouts as long as I can remember. I was a Brownie and then a Girl Scout and then I had to quit because my mom didn’t like the attitude of the leaders running the troop. I would have liked to continue and earn merit badges but the leaders weren’t particularly motivated to help us rise through the ranks. It was about 45 years ago I was in it, so there was also not the controversy about Girl Scouts supporting pro-choice that there is today.

Not sure what you’re on about with misrepresentation and fraud, so I’ll be flagging you again for a weird accusation.
 
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Now that the thread is back on track, thank you Gracepoole for the “Good deeds calendar”. I wasn’t aware such a thing existed, never saw one before. Very helpful.

A few of the suggestions are a little “off” though, I’m not sure how fasting from Facebook is a “good deed” unless one usually posts uncharitable or gossipy things when one is on there. I myself seem to spend most of my Facebook time following animal rescue/ rehab charities, wishing people condolences on the deaths of their loved ones/ friends/ pets, praying in prayer groups, and posting jokes to lighten the mood.
 
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Pretty sure the “good deeds” are based on the three traditional Lenten practices of prayer, fasting, and almsgiving.
 
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