{"id":10905,"date":"2024-02-13T10:48:16","date_gmt":"2024-02-13T15:48:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jenniferfitz\/?p=10905"},"modified":"2024-02-13T11:05:19","modified_gmt":"2024-02-13T16:05:19","slug":"idea-for-a-valentines-ash-wednesday","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jenniferfitz\/2024\/02\/idea-for-a-valentines-ash-wednesday\/","title":{"rendered":"Idea for a Valentine’s Ash Wednesday"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

Quick thought about this year\u2019s St. Valentine\u2019s Ash Wednesday: Why not consecrate this Lent to your marriage?<\/p>\n

If you\u2019re already married, what\u2019s the thing you need to be praying, sacrificing, and working on to make your marriage more conformed to God\u2019s plan for your life together?<\/p>\n

Maybe this is the year that . . .<\/p>\n

• \n

• You finally acknowledge you\u2019re in an abusive relationship and take the necessary steps to get yourself to a place of genuine safety.<\/li>\n

• You schedule a weekly therapy session \u2014 alone or with your spouse \u2014 to work through that issue you\u2019ve been hesitant to tackle.<\/li>\n

• You resolve to offer up the suffering in your relationship, even though it seems so huge and impossible.<\/li>\n

• You give up criticizing your spouse for Lent. Possibly even say something kind every single day.<\/li>\n

• The two of you together take up a practice of prayer, study, almsgiving, or ministry, or discern together where God wants to lead you next.<\/li>\n

• You focus each day on cherishing each other in profound gratitude for all the beauty and joy that your marriage has given you.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

  If you\u2019re engaged, how about forty days of prayer, fasting, and preparation for your future marriage?<\/p>\n

  If you\u2019re widowed or bereaved, how about forty days of uniting yourself with the sorrows of our Lady?<\/p>\n

  If you\u2019re single (and maybe you don\u2019t want to be, or maybe you are perfectly content), how about forty days of placing in God\u2019s hand your future relationships and vocation?<\/p>\n

  If you\u2019re a seminarian, clergy, or consecrated religious, how about forty days of falling in love with Jesus again?<\/p>\n

  \u00a0<\/p>\n

  <\/a><\/p>\n

  Artwork: Sacred Heart of Jesus<\/a>, Pompeo Batoni, 1767 (public domain)<\/em>. This is honestly not my favorite Jesus-face, but I\u2019m such a sucker for the Sacred Heart.<\/em><\/p>\n

  \u00a0<\/p>\n

  Related: Can I Celebrate Valentine\u2019s Day On Ash Wednesday?<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

  Also, reminder, if you are giving up social media for Lent but you still want a few Catholic things to read, you can subscribe to have this blog delivered to your e-mail by using the box in the sidebar.<\/p>\n

  If you generally like what I do here but for Lent you want only strictly-Jesus topics related to evangelization and discipleship, One Soul at a Time<\/a>\u00a0<\/em>is for that.\u00a0 All the spicy stuff will still be waiting for you here at the blorg come Easter.<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

  Quick thought about this year\u2019s St. Valentine\u2019s Ash Wednesday: Why not consecrate this Lent to your marriage? If you\u2019re already married, what\u2019s the thing you need to be praying, sacrificing, and working on to make your marriage more conformed to God\u2019s plan for your life together? Maybe this is the year that . . . […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1209,"featured_media":10908,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[482,12,86,60,29],"tags":[14,88,954],"class_list":["post-10905","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-good-things","category-liturgical-living","category-marriage","category-sacred-art-music","category-suffering","tag-lent","tag-marriage-2","tag-sacred-heart"],"yoast_head":"\nIdea for a Valentine's Ash Wednesday<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Quick thought about this year's St. Valentine's Ash Wednesday: Why not consecrate this Lent to your marriage? 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