Lenten Penance

Wow, I just checked in to my blog to get a recipe for Friday night dinner, and I had to delete about two hundred spam comments! It is Lent now, and I just wanted to tell you all that this year I didn't give up food or drink like I usually do. I didn't even give up entertainment or the internet. I used to fast for all of Lent (except Sundays) and I thought I would do that forever, because it's such good penance. Plus I generally lose about six pounds!

Nope, this year I am not depriving myself of any temporal pleasures, because I have something better to offer God. On the advice of a good priest, I am putting into practice a spiritual mortification. Remember I posted here about Psalm 140 (3&4) in a post called A Prayer for Loose Lips? The psalm goes like this, and my Lenten penance is to perfect the practice of this psalm.

Set a watch , O Lord, before my mouth, and a door around my lips. May my heart not incline to evil words, to make excuses for sins.

The first few days were indeed hard, but it is getting easier to remember not to be so quick to answer every question or statement, and to actually keep silent on many things that really don't need a response. It's not my nature to do this, and it is indeed hard!

How is your Lent going?