What i'm giving up for lent?

[bkeesee]

Hello friends! So I’ve been curious what to give up for lent and have been thinking about it for the past few weeks. I think I’m going to give up social networks (facebook, instagram, etc.). I feel like i neglect reading my Bible to go on youtube or to go on facebook so I’m pretty sure this is the biggest thing i could give up for the Lord during this time.

My question though is that on youtube ,among all the other stuff I watch, i watch a few priests and follow a page called “franciscan friars”. My question is would it be okay for me to give up all of youtube except for these priests? Becasue I watch these priests daily while they discuss parts of the bible, give sermons, teach catechism, and various other subjects involving our faith.

I think that this would be okay because Im learning about our Lord and our faith through it. And also just to clarify, I will ONLY be watching the priests on youtube and thats it. The channels i would watch would be:
Fr. Robert Barron
franciscanfriars
God Bless Fr.J. Corapi
and EWTN

Thanks to anyone who gives me advice and I hope you all have an amazing and blessed day and a lent that brings you closer to our Lord and Savior.

-Braden (16)

-----p.s. Just a quick little side note: I try to pray the rosary everyday (Glorious Mysteries on Sunday and Wednesday; Sorrowful Mysteries on Tuesday and Friday; Joyful Mysteries on Saturday and Monday; and Luminous/Light Mysteries on Thursday). Is this okay or am i supposed to pray all 20 decades every day? I know Pope John Paull II and Pope Benedict XVI said the 5 decades a day was a good way to do it, but is this slacking off? Should i do all 20 every day?

 

[ChurchSoldier]

It is ok just to give up one thing for Lent. The purpose is to make a sacrifice which is meaningful, but doable, and offer our discomfort to God.

I read your other posts, and if you are not able to get to Mass due to transportation or Parental difficulties, not giving up EWTN or other avenues which help you is probably a wise move so you can continue to grow in your faith. You can just give up FB without everything else, for example.

About the Rosary question. Any prayer is good and beneficial. God does not love us more because we say more decades of the Rosary, we love God more by coming closer to Him through prayer. So it might be helpful to look at prayer as a tool for spiritual transformation which in turn brings us closer to God. There are times in everyone’s life, those who pray regularly at least, where they do more prayer and times when they do less.

You seem to have a heart for God and want to draw near to Him. I think God loves that.

Blessings

 

[peace2u2]

Hello friends! So I’ve been curious what to give up for lent and have been thinking about it for the past few weeks. I think I’m going to give up social networks (facebook, instagram, etc.). I feel like i neglect reading my Bible to go on youtube or to go on facebook so I’m pretty sure this is the biggest thing i could give up for the Lord during this time.

My question though is that on youtube ,among all the other stuff I watch, i watch a few priests and follow a page called “franciscan friars”. My question is would it be okay for me to give up all of youtube except for these priests? Becasue I watch these priests daily while they discuss parts of the bible, give sermons, teach catechism, and various other subjects involving our faith.

I think that this would be okay because Im learning about our Lord and our faith through it. And also just to clarify, I will ONLY be watching the priests on youtube and thats it. The channels i would watch would be:
Fr. Robert Barron
franciscanfriars
God Bless Fr.J. Corapi
and EWTN

Thanks to anyone who gives me advice and I hope you all have an amazing and blessed day and a lent that brings you closer to our Lord and Savior.

-Braden (16)

-----p.s. Just a quick little side note: I try to pray the rosary everyday (Glorious Mysteries on Sunday and Wednesday; Sorrowful Mysteries on Tuesday and Friday; Joyful Mysteries on Saturday and Monday; and Luminous/Light Mysteries on Thursday). Is this okay or am i supposed to pray all 20 decades every day? I know Pope John Paull II and Pope Benedict XVI said the 5 decades a day was a good way to do it, but is this slacking off? Should i do all 20 every day?

Here are 2 programs that I just discovered and I believe can help deepen and grow your spiritual journey home:

Have The Best Lent Ever:
dynamiccatholic.com/bestlentever/#aboutprogram

Decision Point: Confirmation program. Watch the dvd’s online:
dynamiccatholic.com/confirmation/

Regarding your situation: Pray for your family that God will send His Spirit to open their hearts and minds. Maybe they will do the confirmation program online with you and pray that God will give them the eyes to see and the ears to hear.
God’s Blessings to you.

 

[CB_Catholic]

Any form of penance you do is voluntary, and you are the one to make up the conditions. All the Church requires is that you fast and abstain on Ash Wednesday and Good Friday, and abstain from meat on Fridays during Lent.

Do not overburden yourself with many things, as most people find that sooner or later they can’t keep up. And if you find that whatever you chose doesn’t work out for some reason, it is NOT a sin to abandon it. But, in my experience, it is better to choose one thing and stick with it, than try to do a number of penances and have to abandon some.

God bless you.

 

[Isca]

Last year I gave up my small glass of wine, which I normally have every day. It’s not a big sacrifice, but it’s something I really enjoy and I follow an otherwise fairly austere diet, to keep my weight down.

I did miss it, so I count that as a minor penance. I’m planning to do the same this year - hope I can maintain it throughout Lent!

 

[AngelusDomini]

Ok, just a few thoughts here, If you’re giving up something for Lent it’s better to get rid of the temptation too. Believe me giving up smoking while there are cigarettes in the house just doesn’t happen unless you have a lot of will power. Going on YouTube to watch certain channels is great but there’s always the ‘well just one look at xyz won’t hurt’ and before you know it three hours have gone watching a cat pushing another down the stairs.

I know a few people who are giving up Facebook, Twitter etc. for Lent but in some ways I think they are missing out because once Easter comes they will be back on it anyway (Stick with me, I can imagine your response already). Yes, it is a denial of what we want to do but why not take on rather than give up? By taking something on you are actively using your time - look for and watch other Catholic channels on YouTube, tune into TVLourdes, find Catholic pages on Facebook and share them, use Twitter to share a scripture passage or thought from a saint each day. You’ll also come across more resources to engage you spiritually throughout Lent. Unlike just giving up social media this may be something longer lasting and bring others to knowledge of faith.

If you’re really tech minded why not use the time to set up your own apologetics channel on YouTube? You’ll be reading more scripture and spiritual material to put on there and evangelising at the same time!

Now where will this extra time come from? Well, maybe you’ll find that it will cut out ‘wasted’ time on the internet but you may also find that you are using more time more productively.

‘Taking on’ in previous years has really helped me to keep a discipline and judt the act of takng something on has meant something has had to go but the benefits are lasting.

Hope this helps or just gives some ideas.

 

[AngelusDomini]

PS - with regards to the rosary - it is a private devotion and you may say as many or as few decades as you wish. I remember reading somewhere that it is better to say one good decade than five sloppy ones - would you rather give one perfect rose to Our Lady or five bedraggled roses? (Personally, I believ Our Lady would recieve any roses given with love but I can see the good advice in the analogy.)