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By Russell Shaw, Crisis Magazine, March 12, 2021

Russell Shaw is a freelance writer from Washington, DC. He is the author of more than twenty books and previously served as secretary for public affairs of the National Conference of Catholic Bishops/United States Catholic Conference.

Midpoint in Lent is a great time to pause and take stock. Most of us probably started Lent with a bang, filled with determination to make good use of this opportunity for penance and renewal. And now? How are we doing at keeping those good resolutions we made on Ash Wednesday? Forgotten what the resolutions were? Now, while it’s still Lent, there’s plenty of time left for a fresh start.

And as we proceed with this stock-taking, here are some thoughts from a sermon called “The Lapse of Time” by St. John Henry Newman:

“We know very well that much as we may have attempted, we have done very little, that our very best service is nothing worth–and the more we attempt, the more clearly we shall see how little we have hitherto attempted.” …