What Is Lent?

We don't know much about how the first-century Christians treated the forty days before
Resurrection Sunday. The Bible itself mentions nothing about it. But by the second century, the
church was starting to use that season as a time for training new believers about how to rightly
think, live, and believe as Christians. (The churchly word for this training is 'the catechumenate'.)
This was done, in part, by reliving the Scriptural accounts of Christ's final time before He was
killed. It was done with the whole church community as they, too, relived it, and fasted together.
The end of the training period was Holy Week, and Easter would be the day that the new
believers would be baptized into the Church. As the Roman world became mostly Christian and
more people had already been baptized as children, the season (known in Latin as
Quadragesima) began to shift meaning in a way which would be of great value for new and long-
time Christians alike. It would become a time for looking at the depth of one's own sin, and
turning away from them. A time for learning what it means to follow Christ, and to listen to the
Spirit. A time for actually going about changing one's ways to be more as Christ would have
them be.

Lent is a time when many people turn their gaze toward Good Friday and ask themselves, 'How
dare I force someone who loves me this much to go through something this awful?' Perhaps they
see the Cross and ask, 'Lord, what can I do to stop doing this to You? How can I love you better?'
Many times in the Gospels, Jesus called on people to repent, to turn away from doing evil. So the
first impulse of love is to try to do things that Jesus would want of you.

But then, we get stuck and gummed up. We fail, as we always do. One of the things we learn in
Lent is how inescapable our sin is, how far we are from being complete, how fell is the nature of
our divide from God. When we struggle like mad to give some tiny aspect of our lives over to
God, we discover how maddeningly out of reach a whole life of godliness is. We can't do
anything to fix our relationship with God. We're too far gone. No matter how passionately we
might want not to be the cause of Jesus' suffering, we end up driving another nail into Jesus,
making Him carry an even bigger burden. (Now, picture us at our less passionate moments....).
Even when I'm at my best, I'm still enough by myself to execute the God who loves me.

But then, that's why He did what He did, something only He could do. All we can do is collapse
at Jesus' feet. And trust Him. We can't get there from here, but He can. He will take us, and the
Holy Spirit will lead us along that road. Through the Spirit, we can love God better. The Bible
tells us much of what we need to know, and other believers (also led by the Spirit) can also help.
Christ gives us His body and His blood (Holy Communion), His presence among us and with us
and in us. Knowing that, we can stand ready for Holy Week.

Lent is the season for the experience of giving your life over -- in each moment, bodily,
deliberately, to Christ and to what the Spirit is showing you. God wants you to surrender
yourself, and let the Spirit work in you. In Lent, we take responsibility for our acts and thoughts,
and treat certain of those as the killers they are. Lent is self-discovery of the parts of ourselves
we don't want to discover, through prayer, fasting, and other disciplines. It is the opening up, the
turning over to God, the repenting of our sins, the turning away from that which does not please
God. Yet there is just a glimpse of Easter through the heavy clouds of Good Friday -- that Christ
has taken the burden, and you don't have to carry it anymore. Don't you want to follow that kind
of a God?
ascend to the top

When is Lent?

Lent starts on Ash Wednesday (this year, it's 09 March 2011). Palm Sunday is 17 April 2011
and Easter is 24 April 2011. Lent is 40 days long.

The tone of Lenten worship and church life changes, starting with the worship services of Ash
Wednesday (the first day of Lent), all the way to Palm Sunday, and then again to Easter. Gone
are exuberant praises (even "Glory!" and "Alleluia"), loud music, and sermons about joy, pride,
politics, authority, evangelism, fund-raising, or building programs. This is especially so in
Eastern Orthodoxy, which calls this season the 'Great Lent'. The feeling is subdued, with a
pensive hush, in awe of God, in sharp awareness of how each of us -- and all of us together -- are
not as God calls us to be, and because of that, will eventually die. We are not masters of our lives
but are instead subject to the tides of life and are thus much less than God. For many Christians,
this mood defines Lent. It's good practice to wear simple clothing in subdued colors and grays,
without frills or jewelry. Though, maybe we should resist going over-the-top, such as going to
Sunday services wearing the real clothing of Lent: ash-covered sackcloth. In liturgical churches,
and many others, Ash Wednesday is marked by the ancient rite of the imposition of ashes (dating
back at least 1000 to 1200 years). At the start of the Ash Wednesday service, the believers are
asked to come forward to the altar. The minister dips his/her thumb into a small tin of ashes
(burnt from last year's Palm Sunday palms, with a drop of olive oil), and with it marks onto each
person's forehead the sign of the cross, saying the words "Remember that you are dust and to
dust you shall return" (from Ecclesiastes 3:20). Roman Catholics have an elaborate rite of
blessing the ashes, including prayers and holy water. To everything there is a season. Lent is not
the season for talk of victorious living. It is the season to be focused on turning from wrong-
doing and dedicating anew to the kind of life Jesus taught us to live.

There are some commemorations which take place during Lent this year. These include Gregory
the Great (a key archbishop of Rome, 12 March), Patrick (missionary to Ireland, 17 March),
Jonathan Edwards (US great awakener, 22 March), Oscar Romero (bishop in El Salvador and
martyr, 24 March) Hans Nielsen Hauge (Norwegian pietist leader, 29 March), Dietrich
Bonhoeffer (German theologian, 09 April), and Anselm (bishop and theologian, 21 April). A
major festival in Catholic circles is the Annunciation (25 March), which is the traditional day
that the archangel Gabriel tells Mary of God's great plan that would come through the child of
her womb. (Nine months -- shoppers were not the first to count the days till Christmas!)

Lenten Devotionals

Lenten devotionals from Spirithome.com, also in downloadable audio where noted:

Ash Wednesday or in mp3.

First Sunday in Lent or as mp3.

Second Week of Lent
Second Sunday in Lent, or in mp3.
Third Week of Lent
Third Sunday in Lent, or in mp3
Fourth Week of Lent, or in mp3
Fourth Sunday in Lent, or in mp3
Fifth Week of Lent.
Fifth Sunday in Lent, or in mp3
Palm Sunday, or in mp3.
Midweek of Holy Week.
Maundy Thursday, or in mp3
Good Friday.

And, there's pages on the the Three Days and the Easter season, Pentecost, and
Advent/Christmas/Epiphany.

More on the church calendar.

Check it out !

How Do We Live Lent?

Most of what is done and learned in Lent is true for the rest of the year, too, but with a different
feel. Most people couldn't even dream of keeping their intense focus all year on what Jesus did
and what we're to do with that. Forty days is long enough not to be short-term, but too short to be
thought of as a substitute for year-round Christian living. A short burst, such as the forty days of
Lent, can go a long way. But only for those who make some hard decisions.

Giving Something Up For Lent

In Lent, it's traditional to give up (or 'fast from') something(s) that we do a lot of and that we find
pleasure in. This giving up or fasting is done:

 as a discipline for learning self-control, to free

our minds from the chase after material things,
to tell ourselves 'no' and make it stick;
 to identify with Christ's sufferings, and
remember what the true pleasures are for
followers of Christ;
 as an act of sorrow over our wrongdoings and
our state of sin.
It may at times be about forensic guilt (as in TV's CSI or Law and Order, the 'I did it'
kind of guilt), but it's not about the psychological kind of guilt (where God is pictured
like a nagging mother, saying just the right word to make you feel sorry for yourself). In
fact, it prepares you for Easter, in which a risen Christ leaves you no cause (or even
room) for psychological guilt.

Sometimes we don't notice how certain things we do have gained power over us and
dictate our actions. In Lent fasts, we discover these things and give them up so that God
can be in charge. Franciscans use the term 'detachment': the less that 'stuff' preoccupies
your life, the more room there is for God, as well as for yourself and for other people.

Christian parents sometimes use the season to teach their children more about taking
responsibility in God's presence for their actions.

Food Fasts for Lent

The most common thing is to fast from food for Lent. To Catholics, this means giving up
meats on Fridays for the season, or to fast entirely for one day a week. For me, fasting is
tough, because I enjoy eating. For diabetics, it can be dangerous if not designed with
blood sugar levels in mind. You might try giving up pizza or fast food or alcohol or
snacks (betcha you can't do it...). Food fasts are not just the most traditional way of living
Lent, they're also the simplest to do, since we all eat routinely every day.

Non-Food Fasts

If giving up food isn't much of a task for you, choose something else that you have to
make a serious effort to give up. For many people, that may mean 40 days without:

 television
 gambling
 impulse shopping
 catalog shopping
 leaving flaming comments on blogs
and forums
 dance clubbing
 living off your credit card

--- anything which most relates to behaviors that are especially sticky for you, as
well as the activities that provide you the opportunity to do them. Whatever that
is, it is where your Lenten discipline must be centered. For instance, this year my
detachment discipline will be about trying to cram too much into a day. I will aim
not to feel like I have to do everything right now. I will give space for silence,
rest, people, and surprises, and I will more often treat the unexpected as a friend
instead of an intruder.
Many people use Lent for taking the complexity out of parts of their lives. They
take a Lenten fast from lifestyle clutter. They pare down their schedules, and
concentrate on activities that matter most. If you work overtime, what are you
working overtime for? For a real human need, or in order to buy more stuff?
Others look for one area of their life in which they use power or authority over
others, and then try to find ways to use less power to do it. A fast is a reflection of
your awareness of sin, and your sorrow over it. It's best to choose one thing at a
time. Then as that takes hold, give up another different thing, as the Spirit leads
you. Or, maybe, give of your time and money to charitable activities that help
those who suffer. (Need funds for that? Use the money you would have spent on
the food or activities you're giving up.) Hopefully, much of the change will keep
going after Lent is done.

Jesus is not looking for self-torture, self-hatred, woe-is-me thinking, 40-day

starvation and oceans of tears. (Many great saints and plain fools have thought
that's what He wanted.) Lent is for soberly looking into yourself and getting down
to what's real. Self-hatred is not being real. How could it be right to despise
someone whom God loves and treasures? The Sundays aren't counted in the 40
days of Lent, because every Sunday carries with it a part of the glow of Easter
Sunday. So it's not all gloom and doom. But even on the Sundays, the theme of
repentance (turning from our ungodly ways) holds true. When you repent, you
please God whether you fast or not, and that is what most counts for Lent.

Lent's strictness and sternness doesn't mean you can't cozy up to the one you love,
or discover new love. It doesn't mean you can't dance a St. Patrick's Day jig, or
enjoy a good college basketball game, or get a belly laugh from a funny moment,
or have a flash of ecstasy during worship or prayer. Rather, in Lent you put a stop
to the fevered pursuit of pleasure, especially pleasure from the entertainment
field's realm of fantasy, and instead let joy seek you in the real world. Then, when
the moments of joy come, they're recognized as a gift from a loving God. Just as
life itself is.
float to top

Adding Something For Lent

Lent is not all about giving things up. It's also about adding good things to our
lives or to others' lives -- the kind of good things that follow on what Jesus asks of
us, especially that which relates to what we're giving up. Try these:

 Reconcile yourself to someone

you don't like, or even hate or
did something bad to, or just
intentionally stayed away from.
 Do acts of kindness for people,
just because the opportunity's
 there; give them little tastes of
God's love.
 If you haven't taken the time
lately to be in a refreshing,
natural spot, do so. I live on
Long Island, which has
wonderful beaches and bayside
spots to enjoy some peace and
rest. You have places where you
live, too. Even if it's a brief stay,
even a half-hour or so, try it.
 Take some time to study about
what causes poverty. Follow the
threads as far as you can. Not
only does it better help you
serve Christ, but you also add
into yourself a useful education
in economics, sociology, and
biology.
 Study, meditate, and pray over
one or two Scripture passages
for each day, through a daily
lectionary (assigned Bible
readings for each day), the Daily
Office (Scripture-based
devotions for set times of day),
or devotional booklets or email
lists.
 Think upon something ordinary
that you do every day, and think
about God while doing it, in a
way that ties into what you're
doing. Or think of a place you
come to regularly, and each time
think where Christ might be in
this place, what Christ might do
there, or what you might be led
to do for Christ.
 Check out your ethnic heritage.
How do Christians in it mark the
season? There are, for example,
Irish carghas and Italian
quaresima traditions that may be
helpful to you.
 Attend special worship services.
Perhaps it's a liturgical church's
 daily morning or evening prayer
service (Matins and Vespers).
Perhaps it's a Wednesday
Lenten service. Or maybe it's
time you started going to a
Sunday morning services every
Sunday, at least for the season.
 Try to find a new way every day
to bring to mind Jesus' death on
the cross, and why it happened.
 5 Things to Take Up This Lent
 Inspiration   >  5 Things to Take Up This Lent

 5 Things to Take Up This Lent

By Patty Kirk, Westville, Oklahoma

 Every Lent my teenage daughters give something up—

or at least consider it.

 It’s the usual things. Chocolate. Pop. A favorite TV

show. Once Lulu gave up meat. Last year, Charlotte
renounced caffeine, a sacrifice she found especially
challenging since it meant going without her beloved
Earl Grey tea with milk and sugar.

 Still, she told me, it was easier than the other act of
self-denial she’d been contemplating: “no
technology”—that is, 40 days without Facebook or
texting.

 “But why are you doing it? What does it mean?” I routinely ask, hoping for some
impressive spiritual motive.

 Penitence, perhaps, or the desire to share in Jesus’ suffering. Judging from their answers
(the universal teenage non-answer, “Just ’cuz”) and their spotty success, I’m guessing the
closest they come to any spiritual goal is guilt.

 “I know it’s supposed to make me think about God,” Charlotte told me last year as we
neared Easter, “but, to be honest, it doesn’t always.”

 Thinking about God is what Lent’s about. Having discovered my faith after spending two
decades abstaining from everything God-related—decades of lonely, hungry atheism that
might be called “my long Lent”—I like to devote the Lenten period to seeking out and
indulging in God’s presence.
 Lent doesn’t always mean forbidding ourselves some pleasure. It can be an opportunity to
seek the pleasure of God’s presence.

 Get Outdoors
One of the simplest and most immediate ways for me to get a sense of God’s presence is
to go outside and look for it.

 Although I live out in the country, I’m indoors much of the time, often spending whole
days—in my office at the university where I teach, in my house, in stores—barely aware
of the weather or what’s growing or what birds are singing.

 To remind myself of God’s omnipresence, I plan outdoor time: a trip across campus for
my mail instead of having it delivered, a long run on the country roads near my house, a
magically relaxing moment of bird watching.

 My garden has always been for me what Celtic believers call a “thin place”: a place
where the membrane between our world and God seems particularly thin. When I’m out
turning the cold wet dirt with my spade or sowing early seeds—spinach, radishes, peas—
or harvesting the slender onions that volunteer themselves to the sunlight after the long
winter, I connect with the presence of the One who created it all.

 Spend Time with Others

Another place where I’m sure to find God is in others, specifically those who are—or
should be—the recipients of my generosity and compassion.
The needy themselves, according to Jesus, are God. In answer to his disciples’ questions
about what to expect at the end of time, Jesus envisions himself enthroned in heaven,
dividing the nations into two groups: those who showed him hospitality when he was
hungry, thirsty, naked, sick and alone, and those who did not. Neither group remembers
encountering Jesus in such circumstances, and he explains, “Truly I tell you, whatever
you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.”

 I don’t have to go very far to find God in the needy. They’re all around me: retired
colleagues, a neighbor kid whose mom needs a break, the mom herself. During Lent, I
consciously set out to enjoy moments with them.

 Pray for the Little Things

During Lent I pray more often—out in the garden, on my runs, over lunch with friends. I
also pray smaller, about the most minor details of my life: to-do lists, writing deadlines,
lost keys.

 Others may consider such prayers inappropriate or irreverent. Many lim-it their prayers to
desires they think God wants for them, not what they want for themselves.

 Certainly, we should put God’s will before ours. But aren’t we also meant to be childlike
in our faith? My daughters prayed about the most minute details of their lives—a lost toy,
a sibling fight, a hard test, a bad breakup. Often, even when they prayed in anger or
 malice, I sensed a peace in them afterward, as though God had heard and answered their
prayers. It’s never wrong to pray about anything.

 See the Answers

Early in my adult faith I longed to read the Bible daily. As a full-time teacher and the
mother of two toddlers, though, I had to spend what little unoccupied time I had grading
papers. So I prayed for more time.

 I didn’t really expect anything to change. And nothing did, exactly. I stayed just as busy
at work, grading papers, just as busy at home, as I always had. Nevertheless, somehow I
was able to get it all done. Every morning, that whole year, I read the Bible. I was granted
the miracle of time.

 Lent is a time to consciously acknowledge and appreciate life’s daily miracles. The
miracles of dirt and winter onions and answered prayers.

 Turn Worry into Prayer

If I ever felt challenged to give a cherished or unhealthy habit up for Lent, it would have
to be worrying. Worries about my daughters or money or some conflict wake me most
nights. I even worry about worrying. And I’m forever vowing, in vain, to stop. In the
spirit of Lenten renewal, though, I weave my worrying into prayers. I call it “pray-
worrying,” the closest I’ve ever come to that mysterious faith achievement of “just giving
it to Jesus.”

 “Here’s this problem,” I rant, as though God were a student who had skipped several
classes. Then I worry forth my certitude of how bad things are and how much worse
they’re likely to get.

 I may sound pushy, disrespectful even, in my prayer-worries, and I am. I am as self-

absorbed and demanding as my teenage daughters can be. But here’s the thing. During
Lent and always, God is present. Nearby. Listening. Longing to respond.

 If the one thing I give up during the Lenten season is worry, it’s only because I take on
prayer. Prayer always draws us closer to God, and that is what Lent is all about—finding
greater opportunities to bring the Divine into our daily lives. Hopefully that is what I can
teach my daughters.

  
