The solemn season of Lent is marked by three pillars of spiritual practice — prayer, fasting and almsgiving. Lent recalls the forty days Jesus spent in the desert, battling temptation. We, too, walk through the desert this season as we struggle with our own temptations to sin. We pray more in Lent as to strengthen our relationship with God and ask forgiveness for our shortcomings. We fast as a reminder of how hungry we are for God’s everlasting love. We give alms to people in need to follow Christ’s command to “feed the hungry and clothe the naked.” As we journey through the season with our parish community, we ask God’s blessing upon our Lenten practices that they may always bring us closer to Him.

Blessings,
Heidi Busse

1. Try new recipes for meatless Fridays. Some may end up family favorites.
2. Dress up. Wear your best clothes to Mass on Sundays.
3. Remember beauty. Buy a small bouquet of flowers or pick evergreens from the yard to bring spring’s hope into the house.
4. Grow for the future. Do something life-giving and creative, such as planting a garden or even just a small pot of flowers.
5. Celebrate new life. Visit a farm or zoo to see the new baby animals and thank God for his gift of creation.

From the March 2014 edition of Take Out: Family Faith on the Go.

An important lesson of Lent is sacrifice. So often, this lesson is lost in the cacophony of our consumer world. Sacrifice is not easy. It’s more than giving up a bad habit. It’s about recognizing what distracts you and surrendering that yearning for what you think you want. Sacrifice can be emotionally painful and demands commitment. But doing something difficult helps us understand ourselves in a deeper, more meaningful way. Through giving up our distractions and desires, we learn we have the strength and courage to go without and that we can survive that emptiness we think we are going to feel when we don’t have what we think we want or need. We realize the place in our identity where we thought the new phone, video game or designer jeans should go is really more joyously filled when we are focused on family, experience, peace and generosity.

Read more of this article on the OSV Parish web site

Here is a Scripture-focused guide to praying during Lent. It is meant for personal reflection and prayer, and to accompany the public, communal and liturgical prayers of the Church, all of which are ultimately focused upon and find their deepest meaning in the Eucharist: “the source and summit of the Christian life” (CCC, No. 1324). Key themes and ideas from each week of Lent are given, drawn from the Mass readings, and a particular focus is given to the “Our Father,” for it “‘is truly the summary of the whole gospel,’ the ‘most perfect of prayers.’ It is at the center of the Scriptures” (CCC, No. 2774). In addition, each section contains a prayer selected from Church tradition that can be prayed during that specific week.

From the March 9, 2014, issue of OSV Newsweekly. Read it all here.