Preparing For Lent
With Ash Wednesday just a week away, I find myself pondering over what Lent will look like this year. Lent is my favorite liturgical season, but I also find it the most challenging.
I struggle a lot with discipline, so entering Lent can be difficult. However, it has helpful for me to note that the purpose of Lent is not to suffer in vain. Rather, it is to really focus on leaning into Christ’s suffering by replicating His sacrifice and His departure into the desert. We use this time to step away from our human selfishness, turning toward fruitfulness and sanctity.
Throughout Lent, the Church typically places an emphasis on fasting, prayer, and almsgiving. These disciplines are not meant to increase our suffering or to mortify us. Instead, they are meant to improve us, drawing our souls nearer to the joy of the Resurrection. Therefore, our Lenten goals and sacrifices should aim to free us from the things that obstruct our relationships with God and weigh us down on our journeys to Heaven.
To ensure that we use Lent to bear goodness and fruit, we need to take the time to reflect on what is hindering us in our spiritual lives.
What is interfering with my relationship with God?
Are there any prayerful habits I have abandoned but should accustom myself to again?
How can I use my gifts to better glorify God?
Where does my attention currently lie?
As we prepare to enter into Lent, we must withhold ourselves from earthly attachments in order to better prepare for God’s promise of Eternal Life. When Jesus departed into the desert, He was totally separated from the noise of the world. He tasted, He prayed, and He withstood temptation. Similarly, Lent invites us to draw away from worldly things.
40 Ideas For Lent:
- Participate in Fiat 40/Exodus Lent
- Fast on Wednesdays and Fridays
- Wake up on your first alarm
- No unnecessary purchases
- Give up cursing
- Turn off the radio in your car
- Stop gossiping
- Drink only one cup of coffee a day
- Sleep without a pillow
- Stop procrastinating and multitasking
- Give up snacking
- Take cold showers
- Stop texting while driving
- Don’t use mirrors
- Listen to only worship music
- Stop talking about yourself
- Avoid sarcasm and be more genuine
- Stay off of your phone while with other people
- Stop speeding
- Go to daily Mass once or twice a week
- Pray a different litany everyday
- Pray the Angelus everyday at 12:00 pm
- Make a goal to read an entire book of the Bible
- Go to Confession once a week
- Pray the Examen at the end of the day
- Go to a weekly Holy Hour
- Make an effort to pray a daily Rosary
- Pray a Divine Mercy Chaplet everyday
- Practice gratitude and keep track of what you’re thankful for
- Do a nightly Examination of Conscience
- Participate in the 40 bags in 40 days challenge
- Each day of Lent, write an affirmation letter to someone special
- Donate canned goods to a local food pantry
- Give old clothing to charities
- Make an effort to do acts of service to your family
- If you give up unnecessary spending, donate some of that money to organizations or people in need
- Volunteer at local charities
- Reach out to old friends to let them know you miss them
- If texting consumes a lot of your time, write more letters
- Make warm meals for people who are busy or in need
I pray that this season helps you to refocus your life around God. As long as you are seeking to grow nearer to the heart of Jesus, I believe your sacrifices, prayers, and acts of charity will bear great fruit.
Photo by Joshua Eckstein on Unsplash