Lenten Thoughts

Every year on Ash Wednesday I am reminded of Homer Simpson. It's strange, I know.

I am reminded of Homer Simpson because spiritually I am just like him. Every week I go to church and I put in my time. Okay, I'll admit, most weeks I go to church but often there is a sense of putting in time or doing it because it's the "right" thing to do and not necessarily because I feel a higher spiritual calling. And then we come to Lent and I am reminded of just how "Homer" I am.

Stay with me here.

This year I resolved to be a better Catholic. I read Rediscover Catholicism by Matthew Kelly and I thought, "I can do this!" I was excited about the possibility of being more involved with my faith life, paying greater attention to the mass, allowing myself to be carried away by the ritual of the church, keeping a "mass journal," and really absorbing the readings each week. I really wanted to give it a shot and I was doing well until classes started. Then as soon as things got busy, I just kind of chucked faith out the window and started to focus on school. And then several weeks ago the bishop of our diocese made our priests read a letter that he wrote, right after the gospel (where the homily is supposed to go), damning the Obama administration and their policy on birth control. And I just kind of checked out after that. Note to bishops: I would prefer if you would please keep politics out of the mass.

That brings us to Lent.

Last night we attended the 9 PM Ash Wednesday mass at the Newman Catholic Chruch on campus. We were joined by hundreds of other students (one thing about attending mass at Newman in Champaign is that there are no children - especially at 9 PM) some dressed in their sweatpants, others in their pub crawl t-shirts or "Chief Illinwek" apparrel, but all were there for a common purpose. And I thought of Homer Simpson.

I thought of Homer because I too would rather be in bed. I would rather be watching television and drinking beer. But I wasn't. I made the choice to go in spite of my desire to be elsewhere. Our priest last night said that Lent is a time to "reboot" yourself in your faith. It's a time of sacrifice and a time of spiritual thought. "Why am I here?" "Why do I go to church?" These are questions to ponder as we spend the next 40 days depriving ourselves - which reminds me, I still don't know what I'm giving up for Lent. My inner Homer didn't think about it at all this year.


So perhaps this blog post is the beginning of my Lenten journey.

Single Serving Friends

I'm currently sitting in the "business lounge" at the Wingate Hotel in Schaumburg, Illinois with some time to kill in the morning. About three times per semester, for the past two years, I come up to the Chicago area to observe student teachers in "the field." Most of them are placed in schools in the Chicago suburbs because they live at home when they student teach and commute to nearby schools. It's a pretty sweet deal for them, and for me it's a chance to get out of Champaign and visit the sprawling suburban wasteland that surrounds the city of Chicago. But I digress.

This morning I awoke in the "post-Valentine's day" world at the Wingate Hotel and ate breakfast with all of the other stiffs. It makes me think about this clip from the movie Fight Club, where the main character, played by Edward Norton, speaks of the depressing nature of a travel life of travel - shuffling from hotel to hotel, running to catch flights, always eating out of single serving packages of food. This morning I had a single serving cereal, juice, and yogurt!

I want to make it clear that this is not my life - really. Sometimes I like to imagine that I'm catching a glimpse into that world, especially when I rub elbows with all of the business people dressed in their matching muted color oxford shirts and dress slacks, eating their single serving breakfasts, trying to "be friendly" with their colleagues or complete strangers, and discussing the "plan of action" for the day. Just wait. It gets even more depressing at happy hour when the same people will line up at the bar with their two free drink vouchers given to them by the hotel and attempt to "unwind." Don't worry, I'll be right there with them. I mean, two free drinks - I am not going to pass that up.