How To Make Lent a Holy Time in Your Life
Want to experience a holy Lent?
Wonder what you can do to draw closer to God?
Do you long to experience an exhilarating Easter?
How to Make Lent a Holy Time in Your Life
By the Rev. Susan Bek
Traditionally, Lent is a time of prayer, fasting and giving.
Prayer – set aside time each day for prayer, reading, reflection, meditation. Don’t just think about it, do it. You may be surprised what a difference it will make!
Fasting – giving up something for Lent is a common practice. We’ve all heard of giving up something for Lent. Personally, I like the Lenten Fast List from The Rev. Ann Fontaine that suggests taking on both a fast and a feast:
Lenten Fast List
Fast from judgment, Feast on compassion
Fast from greed, Feast on sharing
Fast from scarcity, Feast on abundance
Fast from fear, Feast on peace
Fast from lies, Feast on truth
Fast from gossip, Feast on praise
Fast from anxiety, Feast on patience
Fast from evil, Feast on kindness
Fast from apathy, Feast on engagement
Fast from discontent, Feast on gratitude
Fast from noise, Feast on silence
Fast from discouragement, Feast on hope
Fast from hatred, Feast on love
What will be your fast? What will be your feast?
Choose something that speaks to you, something that builds you up. If you’re stressed, don’t over commit. I believe you can have both a comfortable and a meaningful Lent. You don’t have to suffer. You may have already suffered enough.
Giving – give in ways big and small. Help however you can. Be of benefit to others. You will find that blessing others will be a great blessing to you, too.
Lent is a great time to do a spiritual checkup and ask these 4 questions:
- At this point in your life, are you where you want to be in your relationship with God?
- What do you do regularly to practice your faith?
- What do you want to do next to grow in faith?
- What more could you do to step out in faith and make a difference in the world?
Lent is also a time to remember our mortality and set our affairs in order.
The minister of the Congregation is directed to instruct the people, from time to time, about the duty of Christian parents to make prudent provision for the well-being of their families, and of all persons to make wills, while they are in good health, arranging for the disposal of their temporal goods, not neglecting, if they are able, to leave bequests for religious and charitable uses. - Book of Common Prayer p. 445
Planning Your Memorial Service and Writing Your Obituary - We have resources to help you plan your own memorial service and write your own obituary because when the end of our time on this earth arrives, we want to leave our families with a clear understanding of our final wishes and the comfort of knowing which choices we want them to make on our behalf.
Remembering the Church with a Legacy Gift - Many congregations exist today because past generations cared so much about the future of the Episcopal Church and expressed their caring by creating planned gifts. The generous gifts we leave for the church can provide vital support for St. Paul’s, Ventura. With our help, the mission and ministry established here in 1889 will continue long into the future, blessing generations to come. We would love to speak with you and provide more information. Thanks for supporting the church we all love so much!
Lent is the Perfect Time to Make Attending Church Services a Priority.
Join us for worship every Sunday morning at 10:15am. Our services are available Online or In-Person. You’ll get to hear scripture, say prayers, consider a thought-provoking message, enjoy wonderful music and have the opportunity to get inspired.
St. Paul’s Episcopal Church 3290 Loma Vista Road, Ventura, California [email protected] (805) 643-5033 Sunday Service at 10:15am at the following online locations: www.saintpaulsventura.org/live |
We follow Jesus, nurture ministries and welcome all.