As difficult as it may be to believe it, Lent begins this week. Ash Wednesday is March 6. As we invite and guide the children in our care to prepare their hearts for Easter through age-appropriate increases in prayer, fasting, and almsgiving, we must give thought to our own Lenten preparation for Easter.
If you tend to do the same thing every Lent, consider making a change or adding something new to your Lenten preparation. You might consider joining me in one of my go-to Lenten practices. Using the letters of Lent as an acronym—Let’s Eliminate Negative Thinking, I make an effort to be more positive throughout the season of Lent.
When tempted to be critical of another person, we might remember Jesus’ words in Sunday’s Gospel: “Why do you notice the splinter in your brother’s eye, but do not perceive the wooden beam in your own?” When tempted to speak badly of another, spread gossip, lie, or use bad language or God’s name in vain, we might remember that Jesus said, “A good person out of the store of goodness in his heart produces good, but an evil person out of a store of evil produces evil; for from the fullness of the heart the mouth speaks.”
Lent is a time for more intense training in following our Master. Jesus said, “[W]hen fully trained, every disciple will be like his teacher.” We pray it may be so!
Image credit: iStock.com/sterlsev
