Loading...
Loading...
Click here if you don’t see subscription options
Photo by Randalyn Hill on Unsplash

Subscribe to “The Examen” for free on Apple Podcasts
Subscribe to “The Examen” for free on Google Play
Join our Patreon Community

It’s the Second Week of Lent, and I bet more than a few people have asked you the question: What are you giving up for Lent? 

Well, instead of giving something up how about doing something positive?  How about this: Be kind. And let me suggest a few ways to do that. First: Give people the benefit of the doubt. After all, why not? Everyone is carrying around some sort of burden. Usually one that you don't even know about. So give them a break. Second: Honor the absent. Be kind when you're talking about people who aren’t there. Spiritually speaking, it's essential. It's part of charity. Practically speaking, it makes sense too. Why? Because you'll feel crummy about yourself afterwards. Because the person you're complaining to will probably see you as negative. Finally, because it will probably get back to them. More to the point, it's mean. 

Finally: Don't be a jerk. There is no need to be. Just because you're having a rotten day doesn't mean you have to pass along your misery to someone else. It's important to share your struggles with friends. But being in a bad mood is no excuse for being unpleasant. If you feel you’re moving into that territory, ask yourself a simple question, "Am I being a jerk?" If you're somehow unable to discern that, the look on other people's faces will tell you. 

So for Lent, some advice: Be a kind person!

Comments are automatically closed two weeks after an article's initial publication. See our comments policy for more.

The latest from america

Cardinal Pietro Parolin told some 200,000 people in St. Peter’s Square that Pope Francis had made the message of God’s limitless mercy the heart of his pontificate.
Francis has always been known as “the pope of surprises.”
Gerard O’ConnellApril 26, 2025
“Pope Francis is the pope of the people,” Rosa de los Ríos told America in Spanish before the funeral Mass. “He is very close to the people.... That’s why he was so loved. People felt he was very close to them.”
J.D. Long GarcíaApril 26, 2025
Donald Trump and Volodymyr Zelenskyy met inside St. Peter’s Basilica ahead of the funeral for Pope Francis on the morning of April 26.
Associated PressApril 26, 2025