Today is Ash Wednesday and the start of Lent, and for all us Catholics and most Protestants its kind of a big deal. So, I asked my fellow Catholic buddy Connor so share his thoughts on the religious period. Here is what he said!
Cat: For everyone who isn’t Catholic or Christian will you explain what Lent is, and what it means for our faith?
Connor: Lent is an extremely important period of the Catholic Church. Lent is the period of time forty days before Easter. Lent is a time of grace, conversion, and renewal. The Gospel calls us to penance, prayer, almsgiving, and fasting. The forty days of Lent are important in reference to Moses, Elijah, and Christ (forty days in the desert). The time is a period where we can join in the suffering of Christ, and in this suffering become more like Christ. Catholics typically do give something up during the time of Lent, give up meat on Fridays, and fast on Ash Wednesday and Good Friday.
Cat: Connor, what are you giving up this Lent?
Connor: This year I am giving up chocolate.
Cat: Brave Man. What does lent mean to you?
Connor: Lent is a chance for us to reflect and reevaluate our entire life. We try to reconnect with God in our prayer life or simply improve in our prayer life. Lent is essentially a time of self-purification, where we try to find things that aren’t the best about ourselves and improve them.
Cat: Do you have any advice for a successful Lent?
Connor: To really have a great Lent, I personally think one should ask oneself at the beginning, “What can I work on?” or “What goals can I set for getting closer to God?” From here we can try to spend the next forty days working on those goals. At the end of Lent, we celebrate Easter, the ultimate feast.
Cat: Alright Catholic Guru on to Easter. Go.
Connor: On Easter we celebrate the wonders that have come from Christ’s suffering, as well as our own in Lent, and renew our promise to live out the faith.
Thanks so much, Connor! My sweet friend really has a spiritual gift, and I admire and look up to him so much as a brother in Christ. He always explains God’s greatness, and the meaning of our rituals so much better than I ever could! He is such a man of God, and I am so blessed he is in my life, AND now in yours!
This Easter season I think I am giving up Coke(the drink, not the drug). Don’t do the drug ergo, no need to give it up. Sooo… What are y’all giving up this Lent? Do you know yet? You can do it! Throw one up for the big man upstairs! He died for us! We can certainly give up some goodness for forty days!
I'm giving up facebook, soda, and I'm only listening to Christian Music when I can control it.
Ps- You're in houston?? Come see me!