Relinquishing Entitlement: A Lenten Meditation
Neither my own soul, nor the culture in which I live incline me toward engaging the season of Lent well. Life, liberty, and happiness are good gifts of God, but like all good gifts they may easily be distorted. I’m surrounded by cultural liturgies seeking to elevate the pursuit of my individual rights above all other concerns. Some days I resist these liturgies valiantly, but most days I struggle.
In my brokenness I’m inclined to embrace these liturgies. Like Paul, I know what I should do but am drawn to what I want to do. An entitlement mindset is culturally acceptable, and my soul is willing to oblige. Yet the way of the cross is the opposite of entitlement. The way of Christ is the ultimate expression of self-denial, and more than any other season of the year Lent challenges me to cultivate such a spirit.
This Lent I’m giving up sugar in my hot tea and unplugging from my laptop. Through such small sacrifices we do not earn anything from God but rather learn the virtue of self-denial. Thus, Lent is about learning not earning. Lent gives us an opportunity to discipline our mind, body and spirit so that we might learn to deny a sense of entitlement. It is an opportunity to train ourselves in the way of Christ, who did not see his equality with God as something to be grasped.
This Lent I’m also meditating on a liturgy attributed to Rafael Cardinal Merry del Val (1865-1930). I find this prayer of humility most challenging. It is aspirational for sure. If you incorporate this prayer into your Lenten meditations, let your struggle to embody the prayer drive you to Christ. Here is my prayer for all of us this Lent followed by the Litany of Humility in full.
“Father, your son taught us that “the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak” (Mt. 26:41). As we anticipate the celebration of the Resurrection, we ask that you teach us to lay down the rights and entitlements we grasp. Teach us to hold loosely, to relinquish freely and put others before ourselves. In Christ’s name. Amen.”
Litany of Humility by Rafael Cardinal Merry del Val
O Jesus, meek and humble of heart, Hear me.
From the desire of being esteemed, Deliver me, O Jesus.
From the desire of being loved, Deliver me, O Jesus.
From the desire of being extolled, Deliver me, O Jesus.
From the desire of being honored, Deliver me, O Jesus.
From the desire of being praised, Deliver me, O Jesus.
From the desire of being preferred to others, Deliver me, O Jesus.
From the desire of being consulted, Deliver me, O Jesus.
From the desire of being approved, Deliver me, O Jesus.
From the fear of being humiliated, Deliver me, O Jesus.
From the fear of being despised, Deliver me, O Jesus.
From the fear of suffering rebukes, Deliver me, O Jesus.
From the fear of being calumniated, Deliver me, O Jesus.
From the fear of being forgotten, Deliver me, O Jesus.
From the fear of being ridiculed, Deliver me, O Jesus.
From the fear of being wronged, Deliver me, O Jesus.
From the fear of being suspected, Deliver me, O Jesus.
That others may be loved more than I, Jesus, grant me the grace to desire it.
That others may be esteemed more than I, Jesus, grant me the grace to desire it.
That, in the opinion of the world, others may increase, and I may decrease, Jesus, grant me the grace to desire it.
That others may be chosen, and I set aside, Jesus, grant me the grace to desire it.
That others may be praised, and I go unnoticed, Jesus, grant me the grace to desire it.
That others may be preferred to me in everything, Jesus, grant me the grace to desire it.
That others may become holier than I, provided that I may become as holy as I should, Jesus, grant me the grace to desire it.