In my last post, we saw how Bill Gates is an example of the first pillar of Lent, almsgiving. Today, let’s learn about another pillar from one of my role models, Harry Potter. I’m going to dive about midway into the seventh book. Just after Dobby’s death, which we saw in the closing scene of the movie, Harry is absolutely distraught. He is overcome with tears and grief as he deals with the loss of a good friend. This grief leads Harry to make an interesting decision, as Harry decides to spend hours digging Dobby’s grave by hand, rather than instantaneously create a beautiful and perfect grave by magic. I absolutely love the way J.K. Rowling describes the scene, and I think it shows us the true spirit of the fasting and penance that we should be doing during Lent.
“He dug with a kind of fury, relishing the manual work, glorying in the non-magic of it, for every drop of his sweat and every blister felt like a gift to the elf who had saved their lives.” (HP 7 pg 478)
All the hard work and pain that Harry endures while digging this grave he decides to offer as a gift to Dobby. Since he sees the work as a gift for someone he loves so dearly, Harry “relishes” the work, the sweat, the blisters, seeing them as something beautiful and necessary. Seeing the work and pain as a precious gift also pushes Harry to work his absolute hardest, holding nothing back, as anything less would not be good enough for “the elf who saved their lives.”
Should not our Lenten penance be the same? Through our penance, our fasting, our mortification we choose to endure some pain in order to offer it as a gift to the Lord. Offering God our penances is one of the most powerful forms of prayer, as through it we can show God how much we truly love and appreciate Him. As Harry relished in the work, sweat, and blisters in order present a beautiful gift to the elf that saved their lives, we can also joyfully offer up penances to the God who has saved our souls.
In addition to offering God a beautiful gift, penance is also good for our own spiritual lives. Through denying ourselves some pleasure and giving it to God, we are reminded that nothing on Earth can truly satisfy us like the love of God. In a world where so many material comforts are so readily available to us, penance offers us a beautiful way to remind ourselves that “The world and its enticements are passing away. But whoever does the will of God remains forever” (1 John 2:17).
As today is a Friday in Lent, we are all asked by the Church to abstain from eating meat, offering this up as a penance to God. In addition, we should all be practicing some sort of personal fasting throughout Lent. Don’t take this pillar of Lent lightly, as there is so much potential for spiritual growth through the prayer of offering up penance to God. If you have not been faithful to whatever sacrifice you chose to practice during Lent, maybe this is a good time to renew that commitment. It’s not going to be easy; in fact this pillar of Lent is going to hurt a lot. But just think…the more it hurts, the more precious the gift you offer to God.
When you do an act of penance offer a prayer like this... “Heavenly Father, accept the penance I offer to you. Accept my suffering as you accepted Jesus’ suffering on the cross. Through it, allow me to grow in holiness, that I may never forget that no Earthly thing could ever satisfy me as you can.”
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