This year, lent starts on 2/17/21. Lent happens to be the most rigorous and important fasting period of the year. But why do we have lent? What does it mean to us? In this article I will answer these questions and give a few suggestions for those who don’t know what to do during lent.
What Is Lent?
Lent is a season in the Church where Catholics fast for 40 days. This is to bring us closer to Christ, who fasted for 40 days in the desert before his ministry. Fasting and removing Himself from the world was so important for Christ in that moment. So we as faithful Catholics try to imitate this event in Christ’s life, so that we may become closer to Him.
Lent is intended to help us remove attachments to worldly things. This is why you often hear of people “giving up” something for Lent. People are intended to choose one or more things they are going to avoid throughout this fast.
Catholics are also called to abstain from meat on Fridays and Ash Wednesday. We are also called to fast on Ash Wednesday and Good Friday. This fast means we can eat one normal sized meal and two smaller meals that are not bigger than the normal meal when added together. It’s important to note that you cannot just eat a very big meal as your “normal size” just so you can have bigger small meals. Normal size means what you would eat on any day.
Lent begins on Ash Wednesday and ends on Holy Saturday before Easter. Once you take out the Sundays in between these days, there should be 40 days. On Sundays you are allowed to have what you gave up, because every Sunday throughout the year is technically a Feast Day celebrating the Resurrection of Christ.
What is Ash Wednesday?
Ash Wednesday marks the beginning of the Lenten Fast. On this day, Catholics receive ashes on their foreheads in the shape of a cross. This ashen cross is supposed to remind us of our mortality and remind us that we need to repent. In the Old Testament it is common for people to put on ashes as part of their repentance. Our ashes are supposed to remind us that we come from dust, and to dust we shall return. On Ash Wednesday we start our Lenten Fast by remembering that we need to be penitential, and we need to remember that we are mortal.
What Should We Do In Lent?
The three traditional practices Catholics do during Lent are prayer, fasting, and almsgiving. Prayer brings our hearts to God. Fasting separates us from the world. Almsgiving is when we give charity to others, bringing the love of God into the world.
Every Catholic should come up with a plan before Lent starts, and every plan should contain at least one of these things. You can include more in areas you need help in. Do you not have a prayer life? Maybe include more prayers. Do you have too much attachment to the world? Figure out multiple things to fast from. And when you do nothing for others, Lent is the season to really amp up how many acts of charity you do.
It’s important to note that you need to choose something that is difficult to fast from. It won’t do you any spiritual good to fast from meat if you are already a vegetarian, or fast from alcohol if you don’t drink. The whole point of the fast is to get rid of a dependence you might have on material or worldly goods. These things are keeping you from God, so any dependence needs to end. You also cannot treat the fast as a weight loss diet. You may lose weight from cutting out sweets, but that is not the goal. The goal should always be to bring yourself closer to Christ.
It’s also important to know that almsgiving traditionally meant giving food or money to the poor. However, since not everyone can give money or food, acts of charity can take the place of donating goods.
Ideas for Prayer
- Rosary every day
- Lectio Divina every day
- Liturgy of the Hours (can do all hours or just morning and evening)
- Daily Mass
- Weekly or daily Adoration
- The Angelus every day
- Stations of the Cross
- The Chotki or Komboskini every day
- Daily spiritual communion
- Psalms
- Prayer journal
- Guided Lent reflections
- Consecration to Mary or St Joseph
Ideas for Fasting
- No meat the whole Lent
- No candy/sweets
- No alcohol
- No soft drinks
- No social media
- No internet
- No TV
- No video games
- No electronics at all
- No negative self talk
- No swearing
- No gossiping
- No partying
- No complaining
Ideas for Almsgiving
- Donate money to charity
- Donate food
- Donate clothes
- Donate toiletries
- Volunteer time to charities (habitat for humanity, food pantry, etc.)
- Resolve to do a certain amount of good deeds every day
- Pray at cemeteries
- Pray at abortion facilities
- Make Rosaries and give them away
Final Thoughts
Lent is a time for separating from the world and embracing Christ. We live like him, when he fasted in the desert for 40 days. At times our own fast may feel like we’re in a desert. There will be discomfort, but that’s the point. Lent helps us deal with discomfort, and breaks away our dependency on things we don’t need. But most importantly it brings our minds to God. To Christ who suffered and died on Good Friday, and rose from the dead on Easter Sunday. Suffering brings us closer to Christ, and the goal of Lent is to suffer a little bit.
So come up with a plan. Ask yourself what will bring you closer to God, and chase after it. That is the point of our faith, to run toward God. How will you do that this Lent? Lent is meant to be a very personal journey, where we confront our very real problems and bring ourselves to God where we need to be. Every person has different vices, that’s why you need to figure out what to give up. Always remember that you will die someday. Are you ready? If not you need to work on that this Lent. And of course, always remember that Christ died for you, and keep that always in your heart when you suffer in little ways.