What is Lent?
Lent is the 40-day period leading up to Easter, (excluding Sundays) that starts on Ash Wednesday and ends on Holy Saturday, the day before Easter. Lent is meant to be a time of repentance. These 40 days are set aside to praise and worship the Lord; to read the Bible more, and to pray more often. Christians who observe Lent correctly anticipate deeper intimacy with the Lord.
Ash Wednesday is March 5 and it begins the Lenten season where Catholics are called to grow closer to Christ through prayer, fasting and almsgiving. Now is the time to start preparing for what you will take on or give up during the 40 days of Lent.
Here is a practical guide with 20 ideas to help get you started.
- Think of what you typically spend a lot of money on. Do you buy too many clothes or eat out too often? Consider fasting from one of these and maybe donate the saved money to charity.
- Take on 40 days of doing something particular like saying a particular prayer each day or doing 40 acts of kindness.
- Pray before work. What is the first thing you do when you get to work? Check email? Consider taking 5 minutes to pray.
- Attend week-day Mass once a week, or one extra day if you already go.
- Attend the Stations of the Cross. Stations is 6pm every Wednesday at Immaculate Conception and 5pm every Friday at St. John’s during the Lenten Season.
- Start a Lenten journal. Take some time each day in prayer and reflection on your spiritual journey and jot down what comes to you.
- Fast from music on your drive to work and use the time to pray instead.
- Limit time on social media.
- Fast from snacking between meals.
- Volunteer at a food pantry, soup kitchen or homeless shelter.
- Write letters to those in prison, nursing homes or the military.
- Reach out to someone you know who may be in need of companionship or offer to run an errand for someone who cannot get out.
- Give up soda, coffee or alcohol.
- Read the daily Scripture.
- Think of a habit that keeps you from being who God wants you to be. Give it up! (Maybe this is something to journal about as you consider what that habit might be.)
- Spend one hour a week in Eucharistic Adoration. Exposition and Adoration is every Thursday from 3pm to 8pm at St. John’s Church.
- Wake up without hitting the snooze button and use that extra time for prayer right away in the morning.
- Every morning, scroll through your phone contacts. Randomly stop on a person and say a prayer for them.
- Go through your closet and find clothes you can donate to someone in need. Don’t just pick the clothes you don’t like or will never wear. If you have kids, they can do the same. Maybe they could also find a few toys they would consider donating.
- Attend and/or volunteer at a fish fry. Immaculate Conception has a fish fry every Friday during Lent at the Grove Hall from 4pm to 6:30pm for you to take the opportunity to engage with your community!
