Catalogue
More Links
External Links
Know your faith
What Can You Do Before Lent Begins?
Anything worth doing is worth preparing for. Just imagine that this Lent is going to be different from every other Lent you have experienced. Imagine that there will be many graces offered you this year. Even imagine that God is going to help transform your life with greater freedom, greater joy, and deeper desires for love and service.
If you want it, you will choose it. Lent can be this wonderful season of grace for you if you give yourself to it. And, you will give yourself to it to the degree you really want it enough. So, in these days before Lent, you need to prepare your heart. You need to prepare by acknowledging how much you want to grow in freedom, how much you need to lighten your spirit and experience some real joy, and how much some parts of your life really need changing.
So, preparing your heart is a process of preparing your desires. This means practicing your sense of anticipation. If you envision Lent as an "ordeal" or a time you dread in some way, then you have already pre-disposed yourself to not get very much out of it! These days before Lent are a time to start anticipating something wonderful that is about to happen.
Your focus must be on what God wants to give you.
Your sense of excitement and anticipation will grow more easily if you begin to imagine what God wants to give you. There is really something coming that you can truly look forward to. If you get too focused on yourself, and what you are going to do or not do, you could risk missing the gift God wants to give you. You have to remain aware of the fact that grace comes from God. This is about God's great desire to bless you. Then, it will be easier for you to imagine that what you really want to do is place yourself in a space to receive what God wants to give you.
Not starting from a dead stop. Taking some time to get ready for Lent will ensure that you are not going to miss the first week or two of Lent, because you are just getting started. Lent begins on Ash Wednesday (this year on 22 February 2012) but you will want to be ready to really take off on that day rather than just beginning to think about Lent on that day. Part of what makes a vacation or a special anniversary so special is the build-up to it.
Before you get to Ash Wednesday, you should start asking yourself some questions and you should start with some preparations. "What does God want to give me this year?" This question may require that you slow down a bit and listen to your inner spirit. For example, even if you are very busy, you realise you are hungry when you hear your stomach start "growling." "What am I going to be doing on Ash Wednesday?" Too often, Ash Wednesday is like every other day, except that you manage to get to church and get ashes on your forehead. Is there anything else you can do on Ash Wednesday? How will fasting and abstaining happen for you, for your family on that special day?
Lent is not something you need to do alone. If you have a spouse, or children, or some close friends, or distant e-mail companions, you can begin now to talk about how you will support each other on this Lenten journey. The anticipation and the preparation are transformed with the companionship of family and close friends. You should not be deterred by the fear that your spouse or children or friends "won't get into it." Jesus said, "Fear is useless; what is needed is trust." Begin now to tell others about your desires. Help support others' expectations, and help others see that Lent does not have to be something to avoid, and certainly cannot be reduced to merely "giving up candy." You can help your loved ones begin to imagine what they can receive from God in these days.
Ash Wednesday is a great place to start with your planning. "What am I going to eat?" You should not be embarrassed if you really have not fasted for a long time – or perhaps ever before. You can plan to intentionally have only one full meal on Ash Wednesday. You can make that meal very meaningful and symbolic.
Getting ready, means getting your house ready, too. And, it can mean lots of choices.
The symbols in your home and the concrete choices you make can shape the way you will begin Lent, as an individual and as a family.
And, it doesn't take much time. It does not take much time to prepare for the beginning of Lent – it just takes desire and focus. God can do so much with that. You can give God more of a space to touch your heart if you begin to establish some simple patterns. You could wake up each morning, and for something like a half a minute to a minute, stand by the edge of your bed, and just ask the Lord for the grace to let this day be one in which you long for the beginning of Lent. Perhaps you need to ask for specific helps or graces to get ready to begin Lent. Whatever you try to say, Our Lord can understand the Spirit trying to speak through your simple words. And all it takes is the time to find and put on your slippers. And each night, in the days ahead, you can practice giving thanks to God before you go to bed. This simple pattern, in the morning and evening, can stir your spirit to look forward to and prepare for Lent, as a season of grace.
May Our Lord bless us all on this journey ahead. Amen.
If you want it, you will choose it. Lent can be this wonderful season of grace for you if you give yourself to it. And, you will give yourself to it to the degree you really want it enough. So, in these days before Lent, you need to prepare your heart. You need to prepare by acknowledging how much you want to grow in freedom, how much you need to lighten your spirit and experience some real joy, and how much some parts of your life really need changing.
So, preparing your heart is a process of preparing your desires. This means practicing your sense of anticipation. If you envision Lent as an "ordeal" or a time you dread in some way, then you have already pre-disposed yourself to not get very much out of it! These days before Lent are a time to start anticipating something wonderful that is about to happen.
Your focus must be on what God wants to give you.
Your sense of excitement and anticipation will grow more easily if you begin to imagine what God wants to give you. There is really something coming that you can truly look forward to. If you get too focused on yourself, and what you are going to do or not do, you could risk missing the gift God wants to give you. You have to remain aware of the fact that grace comes from God. This is about God's great desire to bless you. Then, it will be easier for you to imagine that what you really want to do is place yourself in a space to receive what God wants to give you.
Not starting from a dead stop. Taking some time to get ready for Lent will ensure that you are not going to miss the first week or two of Lent, because you are just getting started. Lent begins on Ash Wednesday (this year on 22 February 2012) but you will want to be ready to really take off on that day rather than just beginning to think about Lent on that day. Part of what makes a vacation or a special anniversary so special is the build-up to it.
Before you get to Ash Wednesday, you should start asking yourself some questions and you should start with some preparations. "What does God want to give me this year?" This question may require that you slow down a bit and listen to your inner spirit. For example, even if you are very busy, you realise you are hungry when you hear your stomach start "growling." "What am I going to be doing on Ash Wednesday?" Too often, Ash Wednesday is like every other day, except that you manage to get to church and get ashes on your forehead. Is there anything else you can do on Ash Wednesday? How will fasting and abstaining happen for you, for your family on that special day?
Lent is not something you need to do alone. If you have a spouse, or children, or some close friends, or distant e-mail companions, you can begin now to talk about how you will support each other on this Lenten journey. The anticipation and the preparation are transformed with the companionship of family and close friends. You should not be deterred by the fear that your spouse or children or friends "won't get into it." Jesus said, "Fear is useless; what is needed is trust." Begin now to tell others about your desires. Help support others' expectations, and help others see that Lent does not have to be something to avoid, and certainly cannot be reduced to merely "giving up candy." You can help your loved ones begin to imagine what they can receive from God in these days.
Ash Wednesday is a great place to start with your planning. "What am I going to eat?" You should not be embarrassed if you really have not fasted for a long time – or perhaps ever before. You can plan to intentionally have only one full meal on Ash Wednesday. You can make that meal very meaningful and symbolic.
Getting ready, means getting your house ready, too. And, it can mean lots of choices.
The symbols in your home and the concrete choices you make can shape the way you will begin Lent, as an individual and as a family.
And, it doesn't take much time. It does not take much time to prepare for the beginning of Lent – it just takes desire and focus. God can do so much with that. You can give God more of a space to touch your heart if you begin to establish some simple patterns. You could wake up each morning, and for something like a half a minute to a minute, stand by the edge of your bed, and just ask the Lord for the grace to let this day be one in which you long for the beginning of Lent. Perhaps you need to ask for specific helps or graces to get ready to begin Lent. Whatever you try to say, Our Lord can understand the Spirit trying to speak through your simple words. And all it takes is the time to find and put on your slippers. And each night, in the days ahead, you can practice giving thanks to God before you go to bed. This simple pattern, in the morning and evening, can stir your spirit to look forward to and prepare for Lent, as a season of grace.
May Our Lord bless us all on this journey ahead. Amen.
From: http://www.onlineministries.creighton.edu/CollaborativeMinistry/Lent/preparing.html
FSP web sites You can get to know our mission better by visiting our 42 web sites, which will provide you with news and information, and also allow you to explore new forms of apostolate.
