Looking for something to do for Lent?
How about ten little things per day?!
One of my favorite activities to do with our Prayer Buddies (Lower School students) is to create sacrifice beads. It's cheap and easy, and it is loaded with spiritual truth. United with Christ's suffering, our sacrifices on earth help bring in the Kingdom. It is at the core of Christianity: suffering is redemptive.
So during this season of Lent we practice love the way Christ witnessed to it: willing the good of another as other. For forty days we go out into the desert in solidarity with Him, denying our desires in an effort to strengthen our spirits so we too can accept our mission to bring the Kingdom into clearer focus. This Lent, in the spirit of St. Therese do little things, ten sacrifices per day.
Be sure to use this opportunity to introduce the beautiful Little Flower to others. I LOVE her! Young students will appreciate that the church has given a 24 year old the distinguished and rare title of Doctor of the Church.
Next year I'm going to bring in some flower petals for the visual affect of sprinkling the world with "little flowers" of good deeds. If you make the beads with youth, bring along one good deed (like signing a card from someone in the community) so they can slide the first bead. Then encourage them to put the sacrifice beads on their key chain and remind each other to slide a bead when they see someone doing a good deed. Good begets good.
That is how we change the world. Each one of us can do it each and every day just by doing little things with great love. Bring it on!
Here's a link to instructions on how to make them. Now let's GO! (It's two-thirds of GOd :-)
Happy Lent!
