A very common trend I see during Lent is that of folks trying to figure out a spiritual program for Lent–without consulting God on it. Sometimes God is just asking us to live our lives in a holy way in the day-to-day events in which He has placed us.
There can be so much escapism in our striving for a “spiritual life.” We often flee from concrete, apparently banal reality that is filled with with God’s presence to an artificial existence that corresponds with our own ideas of piety and holiness but where God is not present. As long as we want to decide for ourselves where we will find God, we need not fear that we shall meet him! We will meet only ourselves, a touched-up version of ourselves. Genuine spirituality begins when we are prepared to die. Could there be a quicker way to die than to let God form our lives from moment to moment and continually to consent to his action? (Fr. Wilfrid Stinissen, O.C.D.)
Witnesses to Hope 