Christian Lent: Forty Days of Spiritual preparation before Easter: The universal Christians now follow the Lenten season or Fasting for an extended period of time which is a practice that goes back long before Jesus. It is a moveable feast, falling on a different date each year because it is dependent on the date of Easter.
Lent or fasting is traditionally associated with “giving things up” and “giving to those in need”. As non-traditional Christians, Lent is being re-discovered by us fueled by the desire for a forty-day journey into the proverbial desert to follow Jesus Christ, focusing on our heart’s deepest longings to know Him but also to address our silly and off times sinful compromises that rob us of joy.
Lent begins on Wednesday February 22, 2023 also known as Ash Wednesday. The Catholic Christians open the season of Lent this year from the Ash Wednesday., by putting ashes on their foreheads as the Church admonishes. It reminds him - “Turn away from sin and believe the Gospel.” To have the ashes smeared on their foreheads is to embrace a grim truth about their limits. It also reminds them that we are made from dust, we all arrive here from the same humble beginnings. No one among us came from anything other than the earthly design of human birth. And to dust we shall return - we are mortal. It further reminds that Without God, nothing has value. No human rights without God. With God, everything is beautiful, or with God, everything is possible. God has become like us so that we may become like Him. This is what the lent season teaches.
Palm Sunday is always the final Sunday of Lent, which is forty days of fasting in the Christian tradition. Since Palm Sunday always falls on the last Sunday before Easter, the date varies each year, according to when Easter is celebrated. This year, Palm Sunday falls on April 2nd, 2023.
Holy Thursday is commemorated annually on the Thursday before Easter and takes place on April 6 this year. Its name varies, also being called Maundy Thursday, Green Thursday (in Germany), or Sheer Thursday. It is a catholic cultural holiday where Christians commemorate the Last Supper of Jesus Christ with his disciples, as observed in the “Bible.
Good Friday for the year 2023 is observed on Friday, April 7th. Good Friday is the sixth day of Holy week and is also known as Holy Friday, Great Friday, Black Friday and Easter Friday.
Easter, also called Pascha or Resurrection Sunday, commemorating the resurrection of Jesus from the dead. Easter 2023 will be observed on Sunday, April 9.
According to Scriptures, Jesus spent 40 days fasting in the desert before the beginning of his public ministry. Jesus went to the garden to be alone with his Father before the start of his Passion, preparing to endure what was to come. Prayer helps us receive the grace we need to face the particular challenges of each day. Allow the new forms of prayer practiced during Lent to become part of the daily routine in Easter and beyond. Before we can share our faith with others, we ourselves need to be in union with Christ.
The lessons of Lent and Holy Week are never finished. Jesus is role model, and when we apply the lessons we learned during these seasons throughout the year, we will become Easter people who sing, “Jesus has risen!” So just as during Lent, we make a list of things to give up, Easter can and should be a time for us to make a list of what we want to savor most: abundant blessings, family, work, health, creation, relationships, etc.
Whether we have decided to do something new this Lent, or have continued our own traditions, our Lenten practices transform us and imprint on us memories that carry deep meaning. Let these reflections invite us to look into our life and discover our own powerful and meaningful Lenten moments. So, here is hoping and praying that these 40 days will draw us closer to God, help us recognize and amend our sinful ways, and prepare us for the great and glorious resurrection of Our Lord.
