The 40 days of Lent begin next week with the celebration of Ash Wednesday, February 17. Masses are at 8:30am and 7pm. Please bring your children to mass. Lent is a very special time of year, a time to be reflective, and to take inventory of our spiritual lives. We can model this for even our youngest children.
What are the three things that Catholics do during Lent?
1. We pray. We recognize our need for God in our lives, and we try to be more attentive to putting God first on a daily basis. Daily Mass, Prayer services, praying the rosary as a family, Lexio Divina (using scripture as a starting point to prayer) are just some of the ways we can pray during Lent. Taking a walk, observing the spring emerging around us can give us time to be with our Creator. Quiet time is wonderful time to spend with God. No words are needed. Quiet time is one of the best things we can give to our children in this fast-paced, electronic media driven world. We, and our children, need to seek a balance and regular time away from all that. Consider turning off the TV, computer and other noise makers in your home. Seek some quiet and solitude for yourselves and for your children. See you can let God in to rejuvenate you, like the fresh buds in the spring.
1. We fast. We sharpen our senses and our appreciation for things when we show restraint. Giving up a particular food, the more we like the particular food, the more we get to practice self-control. Self-control and moderation are two key aspects of living a balanced and peaceful life. Being able to make do with what you have, to have appreciation for what is around you, and not always looking at what others have is the key to the happiness God wants for us. Practicing our faith, means practicing being prudent, living with less, postponing our gratification. Do we really need it all NOW! What about NOW? Will it ever be enough? What is it that truly makes us happy? For me and for Catholic Christians, it is a relationship with God. And so, to remind ourselves of that, we fast.
Fasting can also be about giving up things which keep us from God. One of my favorites that a friend once told me is that her adolescents were giving up "put-downs" for Lent. In case you're not sure what that means, they were going to stop putting each other down with unkind remarks.
3. We give alms. We can't show our love for God by buying or making God a birthday present. But we can show God our love by loving his children. Almsgiving is all about doing what Jesus would do if He were still walking on this earth. As disciples of Jesus, we continue his work. We do it out of gratitude and also because of our discipleship, we have been sent. There are oh so many ways that we can do this that we may feel overwhelmed. One of the biggest ways we do this as a parish community at St. Thomas is through the monthly food and clothing drive.
What are the three things that Catholics do during Lent?
1. We pray. We recognize our need for God in our lives, and we try to be more attentive to putting God first on a daily basis. Daily Mass, Prayer services, praying the rosary as a family, Lexio Divina (using scripture as a starting point to prayer) are just some of the ways we can pray during Lent. Taking a walk, observing the spring emerging around us can give us time to be with our Creator. Quiet time is wonderful time to spend with God. No words are needed. Quiet time is one of the best things we can give to our children in this fast-paced, electronic media driven world. We, and our children, need to seek a balance and regular time away from all that. Consider turning off the TV, computer and other noise makers in your home. Seek some quiet and solitude for yourselves and for your children. See you can let God in to rejuvenate you, like the fresh buds in the spring.
1. We fast. We sharpen our senses and our appreciation for things when we show restraint. Giving up a particular food, the more we like the particular food, the more we get to practice self-control. Self-control and moderation are two key aspects of living a balanced and peaceful life. Being able to make do with what you have, to have appreciation for what is around you, and not always looking at what others have is the key to the happiness God wants for us. Practicing our faith, means practicing being prudent, living with less, postponing our gratification. Do we really need it all NOW! What about NOW? Will it ever be enough? What is it that truly makes us happy? For me and for Catholic Christians, it is a relationship with God. And so, to remind ourselves of that, we fast.
Fasting can also be about giving up things which keep us from God. One of my favorites that a friend once told me is that her adolescents were giving up "put-downs" for Lent. In case you're not sure what that means, they were going to stop putting each other down with unkind remarks.
3. We give alms. We can't show our love for God by buying or making God a birthday present. But we can show God our love by loving his children. Almsgiving is all about doing what Jesus would do if He were still walking on this earth. As disciples of Jesus, we continue his work. We do it out of gratitude and also because of our discipleship, we have been sent. There are oh so many ways that we can do this that we may feel overwhelmed. One of the biggest ways we do this as a parish community at St. Thomas is through the monthly food and clothing drive.
