The season of Lent is the time of preparation for Holy Week, leading up to Easter. For many, it is a time to give up something like candy or smoking. It may be a time for more frequent Mass attendance for others. Lent is the 40 days from Ash Wednesday to the Saturday before Easter. Lent is often described as a time of preparation and an opportunity to go deeper with God. This means that it’s a time for personal reflection that prepares people’s hearts and minds for Good Friday and Easter. Words like “sacrifice,” “discipline,” and “self-denial” are often used in ways that suggest that Lent is something to be endured rather than a time of grace and spiritual growth. Since most of us find that we’ve wandered from God’s path, Lent becomes that second chance, or do-over, to “return to God with our whole heart
Ash Wednesday is the first day of Lent. You may have noticed people with a smudged, black cross on their foreheads. Those are ashes from the Ash Wednesday service. The ashes symbolize our grief for the things we’ve done wrong and the resulting division of imperfect people from a perfect God. Maundy Thursday is the day before Good Friday. It commemorates the night before Jesus died, when He shared the Passover meal with His closest friends and followers. Good Friday is the day Christians remember Jesus’ death. The “Good” reflects how Jesus’ death was a sacrifice on our behalf so we can receive God’s forgiveness for our wrongs, or sins. Easter Sunday is the joyful celebration of Jesus rising from the dead to give us the opportunity of eternal life. While people still die, Jesus made the way for people to have a relationship with God in this life and to spend eternity with Him in heaven. .” We’re highlighting Lenten practices and memories of people who have shared their stories with us. Their experiences range from pious and traditional to creative and out-of-the-ordinary, but all of them represent attempts to make the season of Lent a meaningful time of prayer, fasting, and almsgiving for themselves, their loved ones, and their communities. Invite family members to share their thoughts, hopes, and desires for Lent.
Spending
time during Lent praying, fasting and giving can make Jesus’ sacrifice on Good Friday and His resurrection on
Easter even more meaningful. We
must remember that through all of this, God is with us. He may not offer
comfort now, but He promises no trial beyond our ability to succeed. He offers
us no truth we cannot accept if we become as children. Decide to support one
another in whatever you choose to do. As you journey through this annual second
chance, remember that each step brings you closer to the welcoming arms of our
loving God.
Reference/s: https://whitestonejournal.com/what-is-lent/
