Hello to the wonderful youth of HFP!
The 40 days of Lent, from Ash Wednesday to Holy Saturday (excluding Sundays) represent the time that Jesus spent in the wilderness, preparing for His ministry. Lent provides Christians a dedicated time each year to reflect on Jesus’s suffering and death during Holy Week and Good Friday.
Often, Catholics say “I’m going to give up ___ for Lent”, and that we’re supposed to focus on fasting, prayer, and almsgiving. This can be a good objective if the purpose is to do it “in the context of Lent”. So how can young people apply these three Lenten observances to their daily life?
The first of the three Lenten observances is fasting. While it’s ok to use fasting in the sense of “giving something up” for Lent, it’s important that we realize why we’re fasting in the first place. Fasting in the context of Lent means sacrificing things in our lives that aren’t bringing us closer to Jesus or aren’t allowing us to be everything He created us to be. The sacrifice we make in “giving something up” helps center our focus on the sacrifice that Jesus made on Good Friday on the Cross. One of the best ways to draw closer to Jesus is to take up our daily crosses. We can do this by sacrificing something for Jesus this Lent with the attitude of wanting to both improve a part of our lives and become closer to Him.
The second Lenten observance is prayer, and this can seem very ambiguous. How much prayer should we be doing? What types of prayers should we be saying? Here’s a suggestion: during Lent, make the word “prayer” mean “Talk and Listen to Jesus”. This means keeping Jesus on your mind throughout the course of your day. When you wake up, say “Good morning!” to Jesus. During the day, tell Jesus what’s going on and how you’re feeling. In the evening, talk to Jesus and tell Him about your day. To have a better relationship with Jesus, we also need to listen to Him. You can do this by attending the Stations of the Cross held at 6:45pm every Friday during Lent at HFP. This special time of prayer allows us to reflect on what Jesus experienced during His Passion, and I encourage you to go to The Stations and listen to what Jesus is trying to say to you through the story of His sacrifice.
The third Lenten observance is almsgiving, which involves giving charitable donations to the poor. This one is probably the most difficult for us young people, because not all of us have jobs and make money. However, us youth are all blessed to have everything we need and even things we want. As Christians, we are called not only to pray for the poor, but to physically help the less fortunate. This Lent, I challenge you to make at least one donation to our church’s Food Bank Box, which is in the coat room and collected every Wednesday. If your parents give you an allowance, if you make money babysitting, or if you’re saving up for a video game or a shopping trip, consider setting aside a portion of that money to spend on a non-perishable item for the Food Bank Box. Try and make an effort not to just take something from your pantry from home! The process of physically sacrificing a “want” of yours to fill someone else’s “need” and serve the poor will be very spiritually rewarding.
This Lent, I challenge you to make a Sacrifice for Jesus, to Talk and Listen to Jesus, and to try and Serve the Poor. By doing these things, your Lent will be a spiritual journey of self-sacrifice, renewal, and faith.
See you at The Stations at 6:45pm on Friday!
-Sarah, Youth Ministry Team Member
Comments