Rend Your Heart Not Your Garment

At the beginning of Lent, we are convicted by the prophet Joel to not simply put on the appearance of the

suffering (torn garments and wearied faces as the tradition grieving) but rather to give God permission to

pierce our hearts with the reality of the Gospel.

One of the reminders a priest will say when giving someone ashes on Ash Wednesday: repent and believe in the Gospel.

Lent is the time of inviting the Holy Spirit to reorient our whole selves back to the goal: Heaven.

And to be reoriented we look to the Beatitudes, the blessed ones: who see God working in the ordinary, bring peace to others because they are rightly ordered in themselves, who love the ones that don’t seemingly deserve it, and who nourish the ones who are forgotten.

The Beatitudes can be practically lived out through the seven principles of Catholic Social Teaching. The

Church in her wisdom guides us through these principles to always consider and uphold the dignity of the

human person. The Catechism of the Catholic Church in paragraph 2420 instructs us that we are called to a higher awareness:

“The Church makes a moral judgment about economic and social matters, 'when the fundamental rights of the person or the salvation of souls requires it.' In the moral order she bears a mission distinct from that of political authorities: the Church is concerned with the temporal aspects of the common good because they are ordered to the sovereign Good, our ultimate end. She strives to inspire right attitudes with respect to earthly goods and in socio-economic relationships.”

Okay—so we hear about this call to a right attitude and to be detached from the world—but we still choose to purchase from Amazon and turn a blind eye to those who are being abused.

Because so often—to love without counting the cost is entirely inconvenient.

Oof.

Before I go further—shopping in big businesses is not in itself a sin—but the conversation needs to happen

about our brothers and sisters in the fashion industry who have undergone terrible abuses (read more “If

Your Clothes Could Talk”).

Do not be discouraged. You are in good company with this journey and the change does not happen overnight.

Awareness is uncomfortable, loving our neighbor is entirely inconvenient, and discipleship requires

the cross. Praise God the pressure is not on us to make ourselves saints.

We have been called to die to self in this season—to be a living sacrifice.

A practical step in allowing our hearts to be pierced and stretched can begin with the clothing we wear and

discerning our purchases. The culture will tell us to rend our garments—to just throwaway what’s in our

closet and replace it with what’s more convenient—but that is to ignore the stories of those who craft your clothing.

But we know we are called higher—to ask the Lord to transform us in the desert and become a living

sacrifice joined to Him on the cross.

Here are some ways to rend your heart instead of your garment:

•  Outfit repeat each Lenten Sunday as an act of humility

•  Research your favorite brands on Good On You to build awareness of what you are supporting

•  Unsubscribe/unfollow any brands or influencers that tempt you to purchase more

•  Anytime you think “I have nothing to wear” or “I don’t know what to wear” ask Jesus to transform

the moment into one of surrender and worship.

May even our moments of getting dressed remind us the call to love our neighbor without hesitation. To

discover more about making your closet a prayer space, check out “What if this changes everything?”