Lent
What is Lent?
Traditionally Lent is the Liturgical season of 40 days leading up to Easter Sunday that starts with Ash Wednesday. It’s one of the most important times of year for us as Catholics. While Advent is a celebration and a time of great anticipation, Lent is more frequently seen as a time of solemn observance and preparation for the celebration of the death and resurrection of Jesus at Easter.
When is Lent?
It begins on Ash Wednesday and ends with the solemn celebration of Christ's death and resurrection (the Three Holy Days). Lent lasts for 40 days and reminds us of the 40 days Jesus spent in the desert when he was tempted before beginning his mission.
Why 40 days?
The number 40 has symbolic significance. It is a traditional number symbolising a lifetime. In the Bible it is used to suggest a generation or a symbolic lifetime…a period of growth and change. Thus Moses stayed on the Mountain of God forty days (Exodus 24:18 and 34:28), the spies were in the land for forty days (Numbers
13:25), Elijah travelled forty days before he reached the cave where he had his vision (1 Kings 19:8), Nineveh was given forty days to repent (Jonah 3:4), and most importantly, prior to undertaking his ministry, Jesus spent forty days in the wilderness praying and fasting (Matthew 4:2).
What should we do during Lent?
Lent is a time to notice God’s work and to receive God’s mercy. Fasting, charitable works (almsgiving) and prayer are the three traditional practices during Lent. The scriptures during this time also challenge us to come to God who repairs our relationship with him and with others. Lent is a time, with God's help, to become the person that he calls us to be. It is a time to seek healing and reconciliation, and a time for renewing and restoring our commitment to God. It is a time for shedding some of the ‘baggage’ of our lives that prevents us from being totally open to God. The season of Lent challenges us to ask the questions: “What is it in my life that is in need of healing?” “What could I change in my life in order to more fully live the Gospel?”
Lenten Prayer Trail
As part of our Lenten journey we all took part in a Lenten prayer trail in the hall. We began by thinking about God's amazing creation and listening to the story of creation in the book of Genesis in the Bible. Next we thought about how we sometimes make wrong choices and the need to say sorry and ask for forgiveness. We did this by writing sorry prayers to God. Then we thought about how our lives are transformed when we follow Jesus and how his forgiveness transforms our lives. Finally we listened to the parable of the Sheep and Goats and thought about our responsibilities as followers of Christ. We reaffirmed our Lenten promises and placed them around the crucifix.
Our Lenten Homework
We decorated a stone with our personal Lenten promise.