On Exodus 40
In this article, I will briefly go over how one should prepare and why every man in the group is encouraged to partake in Exodus 40 during the season of Lent. Exodus 40 begins on Ash Wednesday and ends on Holy Thursday. One can view the list of requirements on the event page.
Giving up things is difficult. Why should anyone fast to begin with? Why should I delay the satisfaction of something that I enjoy doing? In all honesty, seeing the long list of requirements for Exodus 40 can be understandably daunting. Even the thought of giving up meat on Fridays during Lent can seem like a burden with little benefit. No one wants to be hungry, and truly, no one wants to not eat meat (I stand by this). So why give it up? Why fast?
Simply put, fasting strips away the mere “animalistic” or appetitive desires one has, in order for the soul to more easily raise the mind towards a transcendent good. It is meant to be difficult.
Although it may seem some what contradictory at first, having less of something makes you enjoy that thing more so. As follows, having too much of something causes you to take disgust in that thing you once earnestly desired. For example, I would never like steak so much if I ate it every day, but since I only have it once in a while, I have a greater amount of enjoyment when I eat it. If I were to gorge myself with steak, over time, I would become disgusted at even the sight of it.
Analogously speaking, your soul is much like a bar or a pole, in that, if it is bent out of shape, you must put effort into straightening it out. Yet, usually you cannot simply bend a pole to the center without it slightly bending back to where it was previously. Instead, you must bend the pole further than the center through difficulty, so that it may remain straight. This is exactly what fasting does to the soul.
This process of “bending” the soul must happen gradually. If the pole is made of a weaker material, and if you were to quickly bend it back into place, the pole has a risk of snapping, especially if it was bent so far out of shape to begin with. Much like quickly bending the pole, we often become motivated to take a multitude of resolutions with hardly a plan to maintain them consistently. It should not be a surprise when we find ourselves falling short, or “snapping” back into our previous habits. In other words, telling ourselves that we will fulfill even the things we know we cannot yet achieve, can cause us to achieve nothing, or to even give up entirely.
Lent may be a challenge to begin with, and Exodus 40 in no way makes it any easier to take up. It is difficult. But to refer back to our analogy, if you can imagine the pole being too strong to bend, you need to train yourself in someway consistently, so that over time, you are able to straighten out the pole.
On a practical level, this may look like you simply being honest with yourself. You may not be able to fulfill all of the requirements for the time being. This is something that you need to take to prayer, and it cannot be something that is fueled only by a fleeting adrenaline rush—you will fall short every time. Remember, this is a season to prepare yourself for the death and resurrection of Christ. The more steadfastness you put into this Lent, the more spiritual fruit it will bear during Easter. It may not be emotionally pleasing, certainly not at the beginning, and you should not desire it to be so. I advise to start with the smaller tasks so that you may become more readily prepared to build up to the difficult ones. If for example, you have never worked out a day in your life, why would you expect yourself to fulfill the resolution of working out every day? What consistent change magically happens when you say, “I’m going to workout every day from now on”? Instead, it may be more prudent to begin with three times a week, maybe even less. Over time, you will inevitably find yourself going to the gym more often. Two days may become four—and so on. By this, you have trained yourself through a substantial process, which is much more beneficial than going to the gym every day for one week, and then never returning the next. You will find yourself more able to lift heavier weights, or run longer distances, etc.
During this season of abstinence, a man should especially focus on getting rid of the distractions in his life in order to detoxify his mind, body, and soul so that he may give thanks to God who created him. Remind yourself daily, we are ordered towards Christ, so too should our desires be. Have courage, and remember that every man in this group is striving to become better men for the sake of Christ, including you.
© 2025 Christus Dominus Est. All rights reserved.
This article was written by Pietro Forti, a member of Ave Christus Rex.
Do not reproduce without permission. Sharing with attribution is encouraged.
