It’s almost here.\u00a0 Lent begins with our celebration of Ash Wednesday on February 13th this year and will go to the Mass of the Lord’s Supper on Holy Thursday (March 28th).<\/p>\n
When you hear the word “Lent” what do you think of?\u00a0 Ashes, abstaining from meat, giving up something, or fish?\u00a0 This can be the “routine” things of Lent but how much do we really think about what we do for Lent.\u00a0 Why do we even have a season of Lent?<\/p>\n
If you are familiar with RCIA, then you probably know that the participants are sent before the bishop at the beginning of Lent for the Rite of Election.\u00a0 This rite marks the beginning of their final preparation to be baptized or received into the Catholic Church at Easter.\u00a0 It becomes time for them to make their final decision to become Catholic.\u00a0 In the early church, this was a period of “retreat” for the RCIA participants to deepen their conversion to the faith.<\/p>\n
As the early church saw them spend this time in “retreat”, it came to realize that we are all in need of ongoing conversion.\u00a0 None of us are perfect.\u00a0 Lent then developed as a special time to focus on our sins and the need for ongoing conversion.\u00a0 As first the length of Lent varied but settled on forty days.\u00a0 Forty is a frequent number in scripture.\u00a0 There are the forty days of rain in the Great Flood (Genesis 7:12<\/a>).\u00a0 Moses spent forty days on the mountain with the Lord in Exodus 24:18<\/a>.\u00a0 Jesus himself was tempted in the desert for 40 days (Luke 4:1-13<\/a>).<\/p>\n Remembering these events, we spend these forty days of Lent seeking to come closer to God.\u00a0 Ashes are a sign of our repentance (Judith 4:9-15<\/a>, Matthew 11:21<\/a>).\u00a0 Originally the ashes came from the burnt sacrifices made for the forgiveness of sins.\u00a0 We receive the ashes on our forehead as a sign of our repentance, seeking to bring an end to our sins.\u00a0 We give up something for Lent to show that God is more important to us than what we give up.\u00a0 We might even think of given up something that isn’t good for us with the hope of giving it up for ever.\u00a0 That’s real conversion.<\/p>\n We can also do something extra.\u00a0 In terms of sacrifice, it would be a sacrifice of time, making the time for something important.\u00a0 Examples of this would be coming to daily Mass every day during Lent.\u00a0 If that isn’t possible, could you go to daily Mass one day a week?\u00a0\u00a0 Or maybe we\u00a0pray Stations of the Cross every Friday during Lent\u00a0recalling what Jesus went through for us.<\/span><\/p>\n It could be spending ten minutes a day reading from the Bible or taking a walk and thinking about God during the walk.\u00a0 Another opportunity would be to spend time in Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament.\u00a0 <\/span><\/p>\n We talk about the things we do during Lent.\u00a0 These are all external things but as externals they are meant to be signs of what’s going on in our hearts.\u00a0 Lent isn’t just about doing these things.\u00a0 Remember the word conversion<\/em>.\u00a0 Lent is about making positive changes in our lives.\u00a0 Yes, Lent is a penitential time to think about our sins but not in misery.\u00a0 Sorrow for our sins, yes.\u00a0 But not misery.\u00a0 We think about our sins to know what we need to change and then seek God’s help to make the needed changes.<\/p>\n I need to decide what I am going to do for Lent.\u00a0 Among these I will refrain from snacking (with a lot of help from God<\/em>) not just to give up snacks.\u00a0 No, I really need to stop snacking<\/em>.\u00a0 My doctor keeps telling me to lose weight but I snack too much.\u00a0 I will pray the Stations of the Cross<\/a> to remember what Jesus enduring during his Passion because of my sins.\u00a0 The Stations<\/a> remind me of my own need for conversion.\u00a0 These are two things I try to do every Lent but I will also think about something different.<\/p>\n What will you do this Lent to help bring you closer to God?<\/p>\n Peace,<\/p>\n Fr. Jeff<\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" It’s almost here.\u00a0 Lent begins with our celebration of Ash Wednesday on February 13th this year and will go to the Mass of the Lord’s Supper on Holy Thursday (March 28th). When you hear the word “Lent” what do you think of?\u00a0 Ashes, abstaining from meat, giving up something, or fish?\u00a0 This can be the …<\/p>\n