by Gratia Plena Spiritual Director Mary Malicki
Lent is an annual journey of 40 days that calls us to explore our relationship with God. St. Thomas Aquinas said the four typical substitutions for God are wealth, pleasure, honor, and power. Pondering these four forces in my life I was struck by how the four Lenten disciplines of alms-giving, giving-up something, fast/abstinence, and prayer counteract the four substitutions for God.
Wealth is an obvious link to alms-giving. Money, or mammon, in the form of wealth becomes our false god as we worship the trappings of its buying power. Alms-giving allows us to bring balance into our spiritual life making the Creed ring true, “I believe in one God…”.
Often times one may have a Lenten-themed conversation about what you are going to give-up for Lent. As an adolescent and then as a teacher this was the thing to discuss at Catholic school. The Lenten practice of giving up or denying oneself a thing or action coincides with pleasure. When pleasure becomes our false god we become detached from our community and even the true person we are. The list of pleasures that may become false gods is endless. What is the one pleasure you could deny yourself that would leave you just a bit more vulnerable, calling on your one, true God?
The third substitution for God is honor. Who doesn’t want the honor of acknowledgements for our talents, dazzling attributes, and worldly achievements? And yet, all comes from God. Our boasting of all the good that we are and all the accolades we receive because of those comes rightly from God. Prayer connects to honor. Extra Lenten prayer in the form of spiritual reading or scripture, perhaps daily Mass grounds us to God, and we realize all that we are, all that we have is God’s grace.
The last substitution for God is perhaps the most insidious, power, and interfaces with the Lenten practice of fasting and abstinence. When we are hungry we experience powerlessness; when we deny ourselves rich, tasty food we yield our power.
Entering Lent, let us ponder the four substitutes for God. Choose one; or be extraordinary and opt to address all four. Make a Lenten plan for yourself. Be so bold as to write it down in the form of a contract with yourself.