There are so many things that can be said about the upcoming forty-day season.
First off, the word Lent means Springtime, Springtime is in March? In Ancient English, the word “lent” is short for “lengthening”, winters darkness gives way to ever lengthening days. While LENT is a penitential season – calling us to turn our lives around and bring our hearts to back to God – it is not to become a time for moaning and groaning. Rather, it’s time to rise up and prepare ourselves to greet the dawn of season of HOPE and JOY.
The season begins on Ash Wednesday when we fast and abstain from eating meat, receive ashes on our foreheads to remind us that from dust we have come and to dust, we shall return. It continues with fasting and meat-free Fridays. The are three main aspects of the Lenten season:
Prayer, for the good of the soul. Prayer really means to open up your mind and mind to a loving God who thirst to be close and once again one with you, not only in theory but also in practice. It is the intimacy of relationship. Intimacy not only with God but with one another. If we know God, we share intimacy with God. If we know our need for each other , then we become something special, for we are the ones who knit together relationships and families, civilizations and cultures. During this Lenten Season, we must search out quiet places and even more important, learn to sit still!
Fasting, good for the body. The most common form of Fasting is to go with out food. This kind of fasting is to make people who have, realise and become one with people who have not. Fasting is giving something up not because it’s necessarily bad, but because we want to be sure we are in control our bodies and our bodies are not controlling us. When done with the correct spirit, fasting detaches us from the pleasures of the world and helps us to focus on what really matters. Apart from food fasting can also mean fasting from distractions like social media or excessive phone use, or from things like gossiping or yelling at our loved ones.
Almsgiving, for the good of our neighbour. To take upon ourselves personal responsibility for helping a brother or sister in need is to reach out and touch God Himself. Almsgiving is probably most popular, because each Lent have various collections : we give Alms. Remember Jesus once said “Whatever to give tot least of my brothers and sisters, you give to me.
During Lent like at New Years, we make resolutions, but these resolutions have a different focus. Lenten resolutions are focused on spiritual growth. Here are three thoughts: 1.) What ever you choose for your resolutions, the goal is not to offer it up in gloom and read but with JOY. 2.) Sacrificing without purpose can be a waste. Every time you make a sacrifice, offer it up for someone who needs prayer, and it will transform what can fell like suffering into an act of love. 3.) Lent is a gift. It’s an opportunity to reset, to realign, to grow but like any opportunity, it requires effort.
Take time now to intentional about your resolutions. Ask yourself, will this resolution help me grow spiritually? Will it challenge me in a way that brings me closer to God. Most importantly, will it make me more like Christ?
Blessings
Deacon Larry
