St. Paul on the Lake Catholic Church

Religious Education Newsletter

March 2022

Dear Families,

As we begin Lent with Ash Wednesday, we offer this prayer...

God of all people, we offer you our Lenten journey. May we learn to walk as one human family, remembering in a special way those who are poorest and most in need. Bless our prayers, our fasting and our Lenten gifts. Through these actions, we show our love for your Son, Jesus, and answer your call to love one another. We ask this in Jesus' name. Amen.

During Lent, we prepare for Christ’s glorious resurrection at Easter. Lent is a season of prayer, fasting, and almsgiving. As children, we often only think about the ‘fasting’ and removing a luxury from our life, however, it is also important to prayerfully consider what else God may be calling us to do during Lent.

Religious Education students will attend Stations of the Cross and the Sacrament of Reconciliation during class time.

Prayer

Prayer is an essential part of our spiritual lives. There are many great studies and devotional books available for use during Lent. It is also a great time to build a habit of reading scripture each day. This could include the daily Mass readings (available on the USCCB website) or following a Lenten scripture study. You may also consider praying the Stations of the Cross during Lent. At St. Paul, the Stations of the Cross will be offered every Friday evening, followed with a reflection by our seminarian, Charlie.

For more information about Lenten opportunities at St. Paul, click here.

Fasting

A fast consists of eating less, which is typically one full meal and two smaller snacks or meals that together do not add up to one full meal. Catholics age 18 to 59 should fast on Ash Wednesday and Good Friday (if possible continued until the Easter Vigil). Catholics over the age of 14 are also required to abstain from eating meat on Fridays during Lent. For more information on when to fast or abstain, click here.

Almsgiving

“The foundational call of Christians to charity is a frequent theme of the Gospels. During Lent, we are asked to focus more intently on ‘almsgiving,’ which means donating money or goods to the poor and performing other acts of charity (giving of our time, treasure, or talents). As one of the three pillars of Lenten practice, almsgiving is ‘a witness to fraternal charity’ and ‘a work of justice pleasing to God.’” USCCB