Lent 2025: Part One

It feels like only last week we were at the nativity of the
Lord, but we are now already in Lent! So I would like all of
you to repent on your sins, think of what God wants you
to change to become the best-version-of-yourself, and
think of what to give up. People always say to give up
food, but why? Is giving up that food getting you closer to
God? We all need to know that giving things up for Lent is
about giving it up to get closer to God. Maybe you won’t
give anything up, but instead add something like daily
prayer and reading the Bible. It’s all you and God now;
time for some decisions!

Fasting

As we know, we are supposed to fast on Fridays during Lent, but why is that? We do this to venerate and

honor Jesus' death on the cross. And you may notice that I said, "Fast" and not, "abstain from meat." I said this because we need to FAST and not just, "Abstain from meat," we need to take action and

have TWO small meals and ONE big meal. To put it in perspective, Lent is a good time to live on

snacks. BUT we have to not fall into gluttony, so eat until you aren't hungry. Same with the big meal,

eat a good amount, but don't over-stuff yourself, eat what you NEED and not what you WANT. We as

Catholics are supposed to fast on every Friday, but that tradition has been lost like the tradition of not

eating an hour before receiving the Eucharist on Sunday. So when Lent comes around, we like to enforce

fasting on Fridays. Now when you fast on Fridays, be sure to also abstain from meat.

Now I say abstaining from meat should start around the age of 10-12, but actual fasting should start from

age 14. Both of these should continue until you are in a situation where death is imminent (70+ years old

or any age where death is threatened). Before you start fasting this year, be sure to read Matthew 6:16-19

Almsgiving 

According to the bible, we are supposed to give to others. Now we enforce this ALL year long, but we

enforce this with great power during the Lenten season. Almsgiving is when we give or donate to the poor through actions, or giving physical things. There isn't much to say about Almsgiving EXCEPT for the fact that we should do this throughout the year, so definitely give during Lent, but also all throughout the year. People need food, water, clothes, money, and faith ALL day and every day and not during the Lenten Season Alone. 

Matthew 6:1-4

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.' "

Praying

Jesus and other biblical figures tell us to pray throughout the day, every day, of every year. But just like Almsgiving, we enforce this HEAVELY in the Lenten season. What I like to base on is before you start a personal prayer, also pray these prayers first; The Lord's Prayer, Hail Mary, Glory Be, The Apostles' Creed, and The Act of Contrition. This way you can truly profess your faith, and pray what Jesus (and others) told us to pray. These prayers can also help guide our own, and give you ideas of what you want to talk about to God. If you do still have trouble making up a sincere original prayer, I suggest using the prayer process, which is linked on the website on the "Quick Links" page. Also be sure before praying that you understand Matthew 6:5-15 WELL (this is also my personal favorite verse/excerpt from the Bible) 

Giving Up and/or Adding

This heading sounds mostly like a 1st grade math worksheet title, and mostly since it has the same concept. During Lent, we are told as Catholics to give up something for Lent, and it is always revolving around food. People say, "Give up this food!" or "Give up that food!" But it's more than that. We give things up in Lent to get closer to God, now by knowing this information, if you can't think of a reason for giving up this food that gets you closer to God, then maybe this is not the right thing to give up. But instead, maybe give up taking God's name in vain, something that will get you closer to God no matter what. For some people, making a decision to give something up is challenging, so maybe adding something will be better for you. Something like adding more prayer time, going to mass more, reading the bible more, going to adoration, even attending the Leominster Lenten Mission every year could be something to add. All these things I mention get you closer to God, and that is what we truly need and want. 2 Peter 1:5-8

Final Thought

My final thought is that I enforce that we should continue our Catholic traditions like these so we don't lose any more (we've already lost a lot). Also, for more information about this stuff, I ask you to read Matthew 6 and also read 2 Peter 1. These chapters of the bible truly tell us a lot about our faith and what we believe in, especially these concepts for Lent I just Discussed.