Focus

There’s a first for everything.

Several weeks ago, I arrived at work, set down my things, and walked down the hall for a morning check-in with my boss. He made a motion toward my feet:

It’s safe to say I had a lack of focus that morning. I am not entirely sure how I grabbed two gray boots and walked out the door asymmetrical in the shoe department, but my daughter and I share a shoe drawer. I grabbed one of hers and one of mine, and off I went. What’s even more, there was a slight difference in the heel on each shoe. You would have thought the slight change in my gait would have signaled the mismatch to me!

My boss made me feel better by telling me a funny story about one of his friends doing something similar, but wow, how did I let that happen?

I lost my focus. How many times do we lose focus daily? What causes us to lose focus, and what methods do we use to regain it? Also, why is it so effortless to lose focus but regaining it requires a good deal of effort?

Having focus requires being mindful. We must pay attention to what we are being called to do in the moment. From the little things like putting on shoes to the more important tasks, as well as interactions with others, we can be mindful of our thoughts, emotions, words, and actions.

Our Catholic faith ingeniously directs our focus throughout the Church year. The liturgical calendar offers us a seasonality. We are given a change of time and focus from Advent to Christmas to Ordinary Time, which is now, to Lent to Triduum to Easter, and back to Ordinary Time. Our Church calendar is beautifully arranged to direct our hearts and minds toward a life and a love story not our own. However, the story becomes our own when we believe and focus on how the story unfolded for us. We are on the receiving end of this rich, liturgical history. Our life is not the one held on display for all to see and follow. Instead, we should direct our attention and pattern of activities toward Jesus’ life, the life that gave us our own.

Lent begins in about a week and a half on March 2nd this year. Have you given thought to what your focus will be? Prayer, fasting, and almsgiving are the three areas of focus commonly emphasized during Lent, as we recall the forty days Jesus spent in prayer and fasting in the desert before he began his public ministry. This Lent, may we each find our focus (and stay focused!).

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Prayer, Fasting, Almsgiving

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Disciple to Apostle