Challenge yourself and don't give up

During my second year of teaching religious education, my sixth-grade class met on Sunday nights.  One time on the Sunday night immediately following Ash Wednesday, a student asked me “What if you already ate what you gave up for Lent?”  It seems she had given up chocolate, but forgot.  I chuckled and then told her that she should not eat any more chocolate for the rest of Lent.  Sometimes we might make a mistake during Lent and this might lead to giving up on what we had started.  This mindset might also lead us to avoid challenging ourselves during Lent because it might be too difficult.  
When I was young, I always dreamed of traveling to Ireland.  As a young adult, my father and I made plans to travel together.  As we were planning, I discovered a pilgrimage to Lough Derg, which is also called St. Patrick’s Purgatory.  The pilgrimage is on an island in the northern part of the Republic of Ireland.  It is three days of fasting and prayer.  I thought this would be a great spiritual opportunity for me so I included it in the plans.  My dad would drop me off and then pick me up in three days.      
When we arrived in Ireland, we drove to a bed and breakfast that was very close to the dropoff point for the pilgrimage.  The pilgrimage starts with The Vigil, which is 24 hours of watchful prayer of keeping awake.  Knowing that I would be up for at least 24 hours straight, I went to bed early the night before my arrival for the start of the pilgrimage.  With the anticipation and anxiety, I could not fall asleep.  As I lay in bed wide awake, the thoughts kept entering my mind that I could not do this.  I was ready to give up and go with my dad through the northern part of Ireland instead of going on the pilgrimage.  At that point, it would have been very easy to give up before I had started.  There was a lot of soul searching that night.  I was committing to three days without actually knowing what would happen.  I would soon realize looking at a schedule for this pilgrimage was far different from the reality of the journey.
When you arrive on the island, the first thing you do is put all of your stuff on your bed.  This includes your shoes.  Because it is holy ground, you are not allowed to wear shoes.  After putting everything in the room, a pilgrim must complete three Station Prayers outside before being allowed to eat a simple meal.  The station prayers are made on penitential prayer beds which consist of rocks and date back to the ninth century.  On my first day, the sun was out and it was warm.  The prayer stations emphasize kneeling and walking.  There was a lot of kneeling on rocks and that was very challenging.  I was struggling to complete the station prayers but I was motivated by the other pilgrims and continued despite the discomfort on my knees every time I knelt.
After I completed my first three station prayers, I went inside for my simple meal.    The simple meal is tea/coffee (no milk, sugar available), dry wheaten bread and toast, oatcakes.  This is the only meal of the day and I was going to be awake all night so it was a very important meal!  While I was eating, rain started to fall on the island.  After eating, I sat inside watching the rain.  It was very hard to stay awake.  This was going to be a long night.  
To be continued next month!
— Tex Phelps is the Director of the Office of Youth and Young Adult Ministry for the Archdiocese of Mobile. He may be emailed at [email protected].
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