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"Remember that you are dust and to dust you shall return."
Lent

Wednesday, February 17, 2021 is Ash Wednesday, which marks the beginning of the Church's liturgical season of Lent. Lent is the time set aside by the Church during which we try to rid ourselves of all things that pull us away from God. We remember and unite ourselves to the 40 days that Christ spent in the desert, the 40 years that the Israelites wandered in search of the Promised Land, and the ultimate sacrifice that Jesus gave us on the cross to redeem our souls. 
We want to use this time to seek God with our whole hearts. How do we do this?  
Throughout the centuries the Church, based on Jesus’ preaching in the Sermon on the Mount, has practiced three forms of penance for Lent: prayer, fasting, and almsgiving. They are penance because we repent of all the ways we’ve put other things above God’s rightful place in our lives. At the same time, we can look at them as opportunities to “create space” for love in our lives—space for us to love God and our neighbor.

Below we'll explore each of the three disciplines of Lent and how one might choose to practice them this year.
Prayer - Lent
Prayer

Prayer is, simply put, the turning of our minds and souls to God, who dwells in our hearts. It is a conversation with Him in which we re-center ourselves on Him and His will. We create space for Him by giving of our time to work on the most important relationship we will ever have!

Kinds of Prayer: Adoration, Thanksgiving, Contrition, Intercession and Praise.

Forms of Prayer: Mass, Eucharistic Adoration, Singing/Praise and Worship, Rosary, Silence, Reading and Meditating on Scripture.

For prayerful reflection:
  • When do you pray? Is prayer part of your everyday life or only in bad times?
  • What do you pray for or pray about?
  • Why should prayer be an important part of life?
  • How could you improve/grow in your prayer life?

"He is waiting for you when nothing else satisfies you." ~ St. John Paul II
Fasting

Fasting is the practice of giving up things (not just food!) in order to put God first. We can look at this in three ways. First, we can give up things that are not good for us; things that pull us away from God (bad habits, negative TV shows, etc.), which will help us to keep the Lord alone as our God. Second, we can give up things that aren’t necessarily bad or negative. Giving up something that you like (for example, chocolate) is a way to strengthen your will. Every time we have to say no to ourselves, it should make us think of God. Finally, we can give up things in order to “offer it up” for the good of someone else. Being participants in the Communion of Saints, the Body of Christ, means that we have the opportunity to help one another toward heaven. An offering is like a deposit into a big spiritual “bank”, and God can choose to pay forward the grace from our action to someone else in need!

For prayerful reflection:
  • What does fasting mean to you? Do you ever fast (outside of Lent)?
  • What is the number one thing keeping you from growing in your relationship with God?
  • What is one way you will fast this Lent?

"There is no resurrection without the cross. " ~St. Paul
Almsgiving

Almsgiving is the practice of providing for the needs of others by recognizing the ways in which one has been blessed, and becoming a blessing for others in need. We traditionally think of almsgiving to include money for the poor, which it does, and yet we need to understand it in a broader sense: any act of love done for the good of another is almsgiving. In our world today, there are material needs which can often be filled through money and/or service. However, there is also an even greater spiritual poverty; people all around us are crying out for meaning and love in their lives—they need God, and we can be instruments of God’s love to them. Practicing both the Corporal and Spiritual Works of Mercy are excellent forms of almsgiving.

For prayerful reflection:
  • How are you or your family involved in serving others?
  • What is one way you serve members of your family?
  • What is one way you can practice almsgiving this Lent?

"When you can do good, defer it not, because "alms delivers from death."' 
~St. Polycarp of Smyrna
Fasting & Abstinence Observances

In union with the Church all over the world, Catholics observe the following Lenten practices:
  • Ash Wednesday and Good Friday are obligatory days of fasting and abstinence for Catholics. In addition, all Fridays of Lent are days of abstinence.
  • "Fasting” indicates partaking in only one full meal. Two other lesser meals may be taken, but together they should not equal the main meal. Days of fast also imply abstinence from meat.
  • The norms on fasting are obligatory from age 18 until 59.
  • The norms concerning abstinence from meat are binding upon Catholics from age 14 onwards.
  • Meatless meal ideas

Reasons of ill health and pregnancy would excuse one from observing these practices.
Ways to Celebrate Lent
in Your Home


Prayer:
  • Attend Mass - If not already attending weekly, commit to going (physically or virtually) every week before Easer. If already attending weekly, add in one daily Mass each week of Lent.
  • Read Scripture - read the daily Mass reading at dinner or breakfast each day. Those with small children may wish to read only the Gospel. (Find the readings here.) After reading, ask your children "What did you hear?"
  • Thank God - At dinner time have everyone name the things they are grateful for in their lives. Another variation: have everyone share one thing that happened that day for which they are thankful. Being grateful is the beginning of holiness.
  • Examination of Conscience - Make a family examination of conscience, focusing on ways to live out the two Great Commandments—love of God and love of neighbor. Commit to doing one thing during Lent as a family to better live each of these Commandments.
  • Make a Holy Hour - If you don't regularly go to Eucharistic adoration, start spending an hour (or thirty minutes) each week in front of the Blessed Sacrament. If your church isn't open for adoration, set aside a time of quiet to pray and meditate on the Eucharist.
  • Attend Stations of the Cross - if you cannot physically attend, pray them in your house.
  • Confession - make a point to go to Confession as a family - check your local parish for days and times.
  • Lenten Calendar - daily inspirations English/Spanish
  • Lenten Adventure - Holy Heroes - FREE daily activities for ages 5-12
  • Podcasts for the Soul - 40 Podcasts in 40 days

Fasting:
  • Hunger Meal - set aside time one evening during Lent for a hunger meal. Have a meal of light soup with rice or vegetables along with bread and water. No dessert. The Meal recalls the suffering of the poor and is usually accompanied with prayer and scripture reading. Put the money you saved from having a regular meal in your "almsgiving" fund.
  • Give up - TV for a day, one day each week or a week during Lent. Spend time you would have spent watching TV playing a game, reading a book or even explore the symbols of Lent.
  • Give up - listening to the radio in the car. If your children are in the car with you, spend the time talking. If you are alone spend the time listening to God.
  • Easter Eggs - Put a basket of 40 plastic Easter eggs on your table. Inside each egg put an idea of something to do that day that will bring you closer to God. For example: give up TV, pray for a family member all day, give up candy or snacks for the day, say only kind words today, do a family member’s chore today, etc.

Almsgiving:
  • Create your family "almsgiving" jar —have children decorate a container to use for this. Then use this jar to collect money saved on days of fast and abstinence during Lent. If your children give up candy or pop encourage them to put some of their allowance or money saved by not making those purchases in the almsgiving jar. Make a decision as a family to not spend money on a movie but to stay home and play a game—put that money in the jar.
  • Cardboard cross cutout - Cut a cross out of cardboard, put it in a prominent place in your home. Next to it put a container of pieces of purple tissue or construction paper. Whenever anyone does a good deed they glue a piece on the cross. See if you can fill the entire cross by Good Friday.
  • Letter/Cards - Write a letter to a family member or someone you know who is alone and lonely. Have your children draw pictures to send with the letter.
  • Plant Seeds - Care for them and watch them grow as you grow closer to God through prayer, fasting and almsgiving.
  • Be a Secret Samaritan - Have everyone in your family draw names and then be committed to doing something kind for that person. Don’t tell anyone, God will know and be pleased.

Now it's time for your Lenten pledge - where you commit to the ways you will pray, fast, and give alms. You can do a family pledge and then have each member do an individual pledge.
Lenten Prayer

Almighty and Everlasting God, You have given the human race Jesus Christ our Savior as a model of humility. He fulfilled Your Will by becoming Man and giving His life on the Cross. Help us to bear witness to You by following His example of suffering and make us worthy to share in His Resurrection. We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, Your Son. Amen.

Now is the time to ask ourselves:
How will I re-prioritize my life this Lent, so that, by Easter, the Risen Jesus may be the Lord of all that is mine?