Lent

Ash Wednesday will be on February 26, 2020
In the Latin Mass the Priest begins today to wear Purple Vestment
in the 3 weeks prior to Lent.
DON’T LET LENT CATCH YOU OFF GUARD
LENT IS THE SEASON
Of prayer and penance set apart by the Church to prepare
us for the solemn Feast of Easter. To make this
Preparation bear fruit, She has us traverse the way of
Our Lord, that is, by fasting and doing penance in the
Desert for forty days (Matt 4:1--‐11, Luke 4:1--‐13).
Lent is a time to learn to love our souls more than our
bodies. Thus, every Christian should make a special
effort to practice mortification and strive for holiness
during these forty days that are coming.
These can be fittingly accomplished through voluntary
amendment of life, acts of penance, and works
of charity. Do not let this time to Grow in Holiness
Pass You By!!
IN THE NEXT 2 WEEKS, TAKE TIME TO
THINK AND PRAY OUT A LENTEN REGIME
THAT WILL HELP YOU GROW IN THE
CHRISTIAN LIFE,

Consider the following categories on what we should do for
Lent this year.
1. VOLUNTARY AMENDMENT OF LIFE:
Give up those things that need to go sooner or later, namely
Bad habits.  Our goal here is to learn to love our souls more than our bodies…
to break a bad habit forever and Lent is a good time to do it.
Examples: Gossiping, surfing the web without real need,
Watching T.V., overeating, eating between meals, eating and
drinking junk foods (e.g., soda), bad drinking habits, complaining,
saying vulgar words, not getting up on time, using a
snooze alarm, wasting time playing video games, going to
movies, listening to base music, useless chattering on Facebook,
blogs, and the like, etc

2. ACTS OF PENANCE:
Perform some kind of penance. Our goal here is to train ourselves
to say “no” in little things so that we can say “NO” to
big temptations later. We can resume doing the things given
up here once Lent is over.
Examples: Avoid eating or drinking something that we enjoy,
such as desserts. Give up eating out, refrain form drinking alcoholic
beverages, etc…

3. WORKS OF CHARITY:
Perform some good and holy action(s). Our goal here isto
strengthen our relationship with Christ and His Church. Ideally,
what we start here would continue in some way even after Lent
is over. Love God more than yourself!
Examples: Pray the Rosary everyday, attend daily Mass as
Much as possible, read the Sacred Scriptures a Chapter a day,
spend additional time everyday with my family, read a life of a
saint or saints, increase spiritual reading in place of electronic
media, make a daily visit to the Most Blessed Sacrament or
shrine of Our Lady.

Often I have had people sadly say that they did nothing of little
for Lent, or that they started out great guns, but then fell away
after a wee of two.
Lent will be here in 2 and a half weeks, whether we are ready
of not. The who purpose of Lent is to help the Christian Grow
in the Primary vocation we all received at Baptism .
1 Thessalonians 4:3
For this is the will of God for you, even your sanctification.
Sanctification means Holiness, or Wholeness. The awareness
that I am created in the image and likeness of God, that I am a
Child of God Redeemed by the Precious Blood of Jesus Christ,
and that I am united in the Church through the indwelling of
the Holy Spirit. This simple fact of faith should direct the actions
of my daily life. But so often sin hinders us from rising
tour true potential as children of God. We use the 3 goods of
Lent. Prayer; Fasting and Charity, to direct us in a clear path to
Christ.
Think about your Lenten penance this year, a few suggestions
1. Keep it simple. Doing 1 or 2 things well is worth more
than doing many things poorly and then becoming lax then
giving up.
2. Make it reasonable. Do something that is with your
grasp.
‘During Lent I will not watch TV at all.’ Sounds good, but is
not reasonable with my temperament. Giving up TV one night
a week: reasonable.
‘During Lent I will go to Mass everyday.’ (if not accustomed to
do it). Reasonable for a once a week Mass goer, Attend Monday,
or Wed. or Friday Night Mass.
THINK THROUGH YOUR PENANCE