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Lent is a time of spiritual renewal. A time to refocus. Although the Lord has stayed front and center in our lives, maybe we’ve let the things in the periphery take the focus instead of allowing them to stay in the abstract. Through the spiritual journey of Lent, we learn to refocus our lives on the Lord and deepen our relationship with Him.

Have you ever set up a camera to take a photograph of something and although the subject is front and center, it comes up blurry and the background is in perfect focus? Just like a camera being set up for the photograph, we need to adjust the settings (adjust our lives and routines) to get the camera (our life trajectory) to focus exactly where we want it to, on the Lord Himself. And although the Lord is put first, front and center, sometimes our actions, routines, and habits begin to blur our relationship with Him. It may seem just a little bit at a time, so we don’t completely notice it happening.

Ask yourself…

Am I living my life in a way that keeps Christ in focus while keeping everything else in the periphery?

What are the things that are distracting my relationship with Christ?

What can I replace those distracts with to then deepen my relationship with Christ?

Lent is a time that the Church gives us to get rid of our most invasive distractions and enrich our relationship with the Lord through the spiritual practices of prayer, fasting, and almsgiving.

What is Lent?

“Lent is a 40 day season of prayer, fasting, and almsgiving that begins on Ash Wednesday and ends at sundown on Holy Thursday. It’s a period of preparation to celebrate the Lord’s Resurrection at Easter. During Lent, we seek the Lord in prayer by reading Sacred Scripture; we serve by giving alms; and we practice self-control through fasting. We are called not only to abstain from luxuries during Lent, but to a true inner conversion of heart as we seek to follow Christ’s will more faithfully. We recall the waters of baptism in which we were also baptized into Christ’s death, died to sin and evil, and began new life in Christ.”

What is Lent? USCCB. (n.d.). Retrieved March 2, 2022, from https://www.usccb.org/prayer-worship/liturgical-year/lent 

When is Lent?

Wednesday, March 2nd, 2022 – Thursday, April 14th, 2022

The Spiritual Journey of Lent – Prayer

As a Church, we are so blessed to have an outpouring of prayers and devotions written by the Saints, Popes, and Clergy to help us develop our relationship with Christ. We have devotionals written by fellow Lay Catholics and by people in Religious Communities to challenge us to go deeper in our faith. And we also have our own personal prayer. Lent is a perfect time to start one of these spiritual practices. Below I’ll list a few examples of these different ways of prayer and devotions.

The Rosary

You could choose to pray the Rosary every day during Lent if you don’t already do this in daily life. In this way of prayer, we meditate on Jesus’ birth, miracles, death, and resurrection through the eyes of Mary in what are called the “mysteries”, while praying the Hail Mary prayer. If you are new to the Rosary and want to know more on how to pray this prayer, here is a great article from the Blessed is She Ministry called How to Pray the Rosary; A Step by Step Guide. If you don’t have a Rosary, you can find a very inexpensive one to start with or you can just pray the prayer using your fingers like the beads, to keep track of your process through the prayer.

I love to pray the Rosary, but I’ve found that when I do, I sometimes struggle to stay focused on meditation. One thing that has helped me stay focused on the mysteries are these beautiful 4″ x 6″ cards showing a watercolor painting for each mystery of the Rosary by Tribe of Many Arrows on Etsy (I am not an affiliate, just a personal recommendation). It gives me focus to really delve into the mystery that I am praying through.

Eucharistic Adoration

“By the consecration, the transubstantiation of the bread and wine into the Body and Blood of Christ is brought about. Under the consecrated species of bread and wine Christ himself, living and glorious, is present in a true, real and substantial manner: his Body and his Blood with his soul and his divinity.”

Doubleday. (1997). #1413. In Catechism of the Catholic Church: With modifications from the Editio Typica (p. 395). 

Another prayer practice you could start during Lent is going to Eucharistic Adoration. You can look for Catholic Churches in your area that have an Adoration Chapel. You can just go and sit with the Lord in personal prayer. Another option is doing a Holy Hour, which is prayer and Sacred Scripture while in the presence of the Holy Eucharist. This article on Eucharistic Devotion by the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops has a few different examples of Holy Hours that you could print out and take with you.

Lectio Divina

You could learn the practice of Lectio Divina; the way of praying through Sacred Scripture.

Stations of the Cross

Many Parishes offer Stations of the Cross during Lent. This is where you walk around the Church and stop at each of the 14 images depicting a specific moment during Christ’s passion and death on the cross. There is prayer and reflection for each station.

Reading a Devotional on Your Own or as a Family

Last year, my husband and I worked through a devotional together called Best Lent Ever by Matthew Kelly of Dynamic Catholic. It included a short video every day of Lent and some questions that can either be journaled or discussed. We plan to do this devotional again this year, Dynamic Catholic is doing a Best Lent Ever 2.0, as it was such a great way to be growing in our Lenten journey together. This isn’t a marriage devotional, it is open to anyone, we just decided to work through it together.

Go to Daily Mass (even if it’s just one additional time per week)

Daily Mass is one of those things that I feel is too often overlooked. In our faith, we have the opportunity to go and experience the Mass every day if we so chose to! Not just on Sundays. Of course, we are not obligated to go other than Sunday and Holy Days of Obligation. A lot of times there is work to go to during the week or children to care for, but it is available. So maybe, during Lent, you may want to go to a daily Mass one additional time per week. I know every time I have gone to a daily Mass, I have been so, so glad that I did.

The Spiritual Journey of Lent – Fasting

“The Gospels speak of a time of solitude for Jesus in the desert immediately after his baptism by John. Driven by the Spirit into the desert, Jesus remains there for forty days without eating; he lives among wild beasts and angels minister to him.”

“By the solemn forty days of Lent, the Church unites herself each year to the mystery of Jesus in the desert.”

Doubleday. (1997). #538 & #540. In Catechism of the Catholic Church: With modifications from the Editio Typica (p. 152).

One of the precepts of the Church is fasting and abstinence (giving up meat) on specific days during Lent. This quote by Dynamic Catholic explains it perfectly,

“Catholics age 14 and older do not eat meat on Ash Wednesday and all Fridays during Lent, including Good Friday. Instead of meat, many Catholics chose to eat fish – which is why many parishes around the country have fish fries on Fridays during Lent. These are a great opportunity for a parish community to come together. 

On Ash Wednesday and Good Friday, Catholics age 18 to 59 also limit the amount of food they eat. Only one full meal, and two smaller meals that together do not equal a full meal, are eaten. Exemption is allowed for pregnant women and those who need it for medical reasons.

You may have heard the words “fasting” and “abstinence” used when talking about Lent. “Fasting” is the word used when the amount of food eaten is limited. “Abstinence” is when you completely give something up, like meat, for a set period of time.”

Catholic fasting: Best lent ever: Dynamic catholic. Catholic Fasting | Best Lent Ever | Dynamic Catholic. (n.d.). Retrieved March 2, 2022, from https://www.dynamiccatholic.com/lent/catholic-fasting.html 

Giving something up for Lent

Another thing to do is to give something up for the 40 days of Lent of your own choice. Examine your life; what is something you could give up for 40 days that would improve your relationship with Christ? This doesn’t have to be a food-related thing, although it could be something like coffee or chocolate. But it could also be something like getting off of social media for Lent. Chose something that is not a need, but a want. The experience is supposed to be challenging, but in a way to help you grow in both self-mastery and dependence on the Lord.

The Spiritual Journey of Lent – Almsgiving

1 “[But] take care not to perform righteous deeds in order that people may see them; otherwise, you will have no recompense from your heavenly Father. 2 When you give alms, do not blow a trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets to win the praise of others. Amen, I say to you, they have received their reward. 3 But when you give alms, do not let your left hand know what your right is doing, 4 so that your almsgiving may be secret. And your Father who sees in secret will repay you.”

Our Sunday Visitor Inc. (2012). Matthew 6:1-4. In The New American Bible: Revised edition.

Give your time

If you can, do some volunteer work during this time at a charity that is in need in your area. Or commit to joining a group to help out at your Church for longer than just the Lenten season.

Donate money to charity

If you can, donate money to a good Christian charity. You could involve your children in this as well, maybe by having a jar in your home that you collect money in throughout Lent and at the end, donate it all to charity. This could also be going through and donating some possessions to a charity in need in your area.

Spiritual and Corporal Works of Mercy

Revisit the spiritual and corporal works of mercy. If you need some ideas, this article called How to Practice the Works of Mercy as a Family by Blessed is She has some great ideas and even has a printable version.

Do you have to be Catholic to participate in Lent?

The short answer is no; you don’t have to be Catholic to do additional prayer, fasting, or almsgiving during the 40 days of Lent. You can definitely use this period to draw closer to the Lord, possibly using traditions from your denomination if you aren’t Catholic. Many other Christian denominations have their specific Lenten practices; Eastern Orthodox and also some Lutheran, Methodist, Presbyterian, and Anglican churches as well as others. But as a Catholic myself, I can’t speak too much to their practices.

In closing, there is so much more I could say on this topic. But stay tuned for a recap of my own Lenten journey.

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