It's time for Lent!

Welcome (back) to my blog dear reader! I am so glad you are here. 😄 I hope you enjoy your time here.

This week I wanted to talk about another topic that was an option in the Twitter poll I posted last week. The season of Lent. Yes, dear reader this is mostly a Catholic thing but some Protestants and other Christian denominations also participate.

The Lenten Season for this year begins on Ash Wednesday, March 6th (tomorrow), and ends on Holy Thursday, April 18th. The purpose of Lent is the preparation of oneself for Easter and to grow closer to God through prayer, doing penance, practicing self-denial, and almsgiving. Some people, based on age and health are also required to fast from meat on specific days, and abstain from eating between meals on Ash Wednesday and Good Friday. Every person between the age of 18 and 59 must fast on Ash Wednesday and Good Friday. Every person 14 years of age or older must abstain from meat (and items made with meat) on all other Fridays of the year, unless he or she substitutes some other form of penance for abstinence.

It lasts for forty days because it is in commemoration of the forty days Jesus spent fasting and praying in the desert before beginning His public ministry. While He was in the desert He was tempted by Satan. This comes as no surprise then as people participate in prayer, doing penance, practicing self-denial, and almsgiving that they are also tempted to give up and not grow closer to God. There are steps that can be taken however to help the process. After all, we are trying to live as God wants us to and He can give us the necessary grace to succeed.

When getting ready for Lent, like most things in life, having an appropriate mindset is essential for success. So what is considered “Lenten success”? For me, I believe that it is finding ways to grow in prayer and sacrifice that help each individual person so they can feel themselves growing closer to God. This means choosing things that are easy enough to do but also a challenge for each person so that it is still a sacrifice. As an example for what I mean I have included a few things I plan on doing during Lent.

• Weekly Adoration at my church on Thursdays (at least an hour)

• Weekly Confession (with the same priest/my pastor)

• No coffee/sugary foods

• No using a snooze button in the morning (this is gonna be a hard one.)

• Daily spiritual reading

• Limiting my time on the internet/social media

I choose all these things (plus some more) for the reason I mentioned before. These are doable things that are also challenging for me personally. As a young adult my days are very busy and I am a self-proclaimed workaholic. So, scheduling time for prayer and meditation is something I should have done a long time ago. I’m taking the initiative of Lent to make this change in my life. As for the giving up coffee and junk food, I rely on it too much to make me feel better when there are so many better options, like prayer to do instead. Now, I’m not giving up caffeine entirely. I would not want to subject my family and coworkers to that nightmare.

I am limiting my time on social media because when I have done it for a day at a time I have noticed an improvement in my focus on what really matters. It also improves my mood. The limited time on the internet also means I will not be posting to update this blog until April 23rd. Now, do not get me wrong. This blog has been nothing but an amazing experience from the beginning. I just need to take some time to refocus myself and remember what are the most important parts of my life.

When choosing what to “give up” for Lent, or what to do to grow it always is important to see what you are already struggling with and how you can improve there. Also, if you are like me and the idea of doing the things you chose makes you a little irritated but you know it’s the right thing to do, you are on the right track. I will be checking my DMs on social media on Sundays if you still would like to chat with me! I’d love to hear from you.

I wish you all a fruitful Lenten Season and may you always find the beauty in the crazy. See you on April 23rd!

☀️💙