Lenten Season

 


Lent, which starts on Ash Wednesday and ends at sundown on Holy Thursday, is a 40-day cycle that precedes Easter. It is a period of reflection and preparation leading up to the Easter. It is a season of prayer, fasting and almsgiving.

As a long-standing Lent tradition, prayer goes hand in hand with fasting. Fasting is challenging. It stifles our willpower and confines our selfish, immature side. It requires self-discipline and a certain strength of character. However, the fast should not be harmful to one's health. Consider excluding one meal a day, a daily treat, coffee, or alcohol from your daily intake.

The spirit of sacrifice is another facet of Lent. During Lent we should not think that the sacrifices that we are making are useless and unneeded, but instead we should look at these sacrifices as a way to become closer to God. It doesn't have to be something big or dramatic, just a small but meaningful sacrifice will do. Such sacrifices include greater voluntary donation, avoiding social media, community service, and scripture memorization.

Helping others is also another Lenten tradition, influenced by Jesus' instruction to "love your neighbor as yourself". Moreover, almsgiving is one way to share God's gifts—not only through monetary allocation, but also through the exchange of our time and talents.

Lent is meant to be a time of repentance. At this point of time, it is essential to spend more time with God. Prayer is one of the most important things to do as a Christian and it is also our direct connection with God, through prayer we can communicate honestly and sincerely with God and give honor and praise. 

Although my family is not Catholic, we still do practice the season of Lent. Just as Catholics, we do the same from fasting, prayer and to almsgiving. Lent is a season for all of us, regardless of religion. The most important thing to note during Lent is that, though the practices of different religions can differ, the goal remains the same: to repent of our sins, renew our faith, and prepare ourselves to joyfully rejoice the mysteries of our salvation.

 



Media Reference/s:

StreamTech (2021) Retrieved from https://www.streamtech.com.ph/news/lent-2021-fiber-internet/

American Bible Society (2021) Retrieved from https://news.americanbible.org/blog/entry/corporate-blog/lent-a-season-for-biblical-meditation


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