Lenten Campaign 2025
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Typically most Lenten sacrifices are focused almost entirely on exterior things. It could be giving-up sweets, refraining from snacks between meals, or maybe even attending daily Mass.
These sacrifices and resolutions are certainly good to do and can be very beneficial for our spiritual lives.
However, have we ever considered a Lenten sacrifice that no one will ever see or notice?
Interior sacrifices can often be more difficult to perform, as they are not tangible and require greater mental and spiritual energy.
Yet, an interior sacrifice can lead to a more intimate union with God and is a sacrifice that Jesus himself promoted.
Hidden sacrifices
Jesus praised those who performed sacrifices that were hidden from the world:
But when you give alms, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your alms may be in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you...when you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you.
- Matthew 6:2-4, 6
Often we will want people to see us when we give up desserts or give large sums of money to the poor, as then they can validate our sacrifice and be a witness to it.
It's important to remind ourselves that the only person we need to "impress" is God. Our goal in Lent should not be to see how we can show off in front of our friends and family, but to offer everything out of love for God.
Most excellent, not most visible
St. Francis de Sales also praises this kind of interior sacrifice in his Introduction to the Devout Life:
[T]he common run of men ordinarily value temporal almsgiving more than spiritual; and think more of fasting, exterior discipline and bodily mortification than of meekness, cheerfulness, modesty, and other interior mortifications, which nevertheless are far better. Do you then, my daughter, choose the best virtues, not those which are most highly esteemed; the most excellent, not the most visible; the truest, not the most conspicuous.
One simple example of an interior Lenten sacrifice is to try and think better of your coworkers and to pray for them.
Another example is to work on forgiving your family members, even if they are deceased and you can no longer openly ask for their forgiveness.
The key thing to remember is that it is our heart that guides our exterior actions and so if we never deal with our inner turmoil, we will never be able to overcome our exterior faults.
