Welcome to Lent. A Parish Catechist looks forward to journeying with you for the next 40 days!

Major liturgical seasons of the Christian year include:

• Advent: four weeks of anticipating Christmas
• Christmas Day: Always on December 25
• Christmas Season: Christmas Day until Epiphany (January 6)
• Lent: 40 days of anticipating Easter (starts on Ash Wednesday)
• Easter Day: The first Sunday after the first full moon after the Spring Equinox (therefore, a date between late March and late April)
• Easter season: the fifty days between Easter Day and the day we celebrate Pentecost
• Pentecost: The day when Holy Spirit descended upon the Apostles following Christ’s Ascension

This year, the beginning of Lent (i.e., Ash Wednesday) – due to Easter being a moveable feast – coincides with Valentine’s Day (February 14).

Just as Mardi Gras famously occurs the day before Ash Wednesday – a day of plenty before we begin 40 days of fasting, prayer, and alms giving – some Catholic schools planned ahead this year to celebrate Valentine’s Day on February 13.

What kind of fasting are you planning for Lent this year? Some restaurants know to offer “Fish on Fridays” during Lent to attract fasting guests. Food is famously a way to fast during Lent. We eat less, give up foods such as no-meat-on-Fridays or giving up sugar. What matters spiritually is that we abstain from something that we personally find difficult to give up. For several years, I couldn’t give up chocolate during Lent. I had to take a look at why I was so attached to chocolate (and how that was impacting my health!). We are to attach ourselves to God, not to earthly things. For many people, reducing the use of technology (such as phones) can be an earthly thing that is hard to set aside – reducing phone usage could be a good Lenten discipline.

What kind of enhanced prayer activity are you planning for Lent this year? Prayer is about having an active relationship with God. It is famously said that “There can be no faith life without prayer.” A Parish Catechist blogged in January about the value of prayer and how to approach prayer (please feel free to give that post a read). Lent is a great time to build up a regular prayer practice.

What kind of alms-giving are you planning for Lent this year? The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) have this to say about almsgiving during Lent: “The foundational call of Christians to charity is a frequent theme of the Gospels….  During Lent, we are asked to focus more intently on ‘almsgiving,’ which means donating money or goods to the poor and performing other acts of charity.  As one of the three pillars of Lenten practice, almsgiving is ‘a witness to fraternal charity’ and  ‘a work of justice pleasing to God.’ (Catechism of the Catholic Church, no. 2462).”  There are many types of social and economic need in our communities. Please consider being charitable in a way that makes a difference in your local community!

Kim Burkhardt blogs at A Parish Catechist and The Books of the Ages (and a member of the Association of Catholic Publishers). If you are a new visitor, it would be great to have you follow this blog (thank you!). If you know someone who would like this blog, please share it with them (thank you!). You can also support this blog by clicking here when you are going to shop on Amazon (that lands A Parish Catechist a commission on Amazon sales).