This Wednesday, March 1, marks the beginning of Lent. Its the 40 day period before the Feast of Easter, symbolizing both Jesus’ 40 day prayer journey in the desert before the start of his earthly ministry and our own faith journeys. It is a time for us to reflect on our lives, both the past year and our lives as a whole, think of the ways we have followed the example of Jesus, and think of areas where we need improvement. Requirements of fasting on Ash Wednesday and Good Friday, and abstaining from meat on these days and the other Fridays of Lent (Church Laws, not Divine Laws, and as such changeable) are ways in which we show communion with our fellow Christians.
This Lent is special for me, of course, because it is my first as a Catholic. I recall always giving something up for Lent in middle school, because, well, it was the thing to do. But rather than (or in addition to) focusing on sacrificing things that stand in between me and God, for this period I plan to add certain things to my routine that I consider to be spiritually enriching:
1) Liturgy of the Hours: During RCIA, I prayed the Liturgy of the hours twice a day. After confirmation, it stuck for a few weeks, but due to exams and such, it kind of fell by the wayside. I think that it is very important to keep my life Christ centered, and these prayers are one way that I can do that. So, rather than hitting the snooze button thrice in the morning, I plan to hop out of bed to pray. I will pray the Liturgy at twice a day, in the morning and evenings.
2) I have been reading the bible constantly since RCIA. I read in Rob Williams’ (orangejack’s) blog that he is reading the four Gospels over the 40 day period. I plan to join him, and will follow his plan here
Now, some things that I will be giving up:
1) No internet access after 7pm. I feel that my time spent online would be better spent enriching my spiritual life and relationship with God. I will begin to pray the divine chaplet once a week, and I have several books lying around that I have been waiting to read. One is The Cloister Walk by Kathleen Norris. I plan to blog about this during Lent.
I will come up with more before Ash Wednesday.
God Bless,
