I have been very tempted not to do any penance at all this Lent. Moving to another country can be trial and stress enough without adding to it. For instance I am already loosing a lot of weight. But I love Lent and it would be such a pity to miss it. It is an old friend in an unfamiliar place. So I will try at least to go off the drink. May God tell us something we need to hear this Lent to become holier people.
To me, Lent is the “place” we can go and discover where are hearts are. I often think on this day tge words of the Shema: Hear O Israel, the Lord is our God, the Lord is one.And as for you, you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength I hope and pray in this Lent I see all the ways I don’t live this way. God will give all the Grace needed to discover what’s in my heart and to turn to Him with everything I have. Happy Lent to all. God is so good to give us this time.
So a friend and I got into a discussion of when does Lent start. I said Wednesday they suggested it started after you attended mass. Thoughts?
Lent is just a reminder to be penitent all year, not just for 40 days. It prepared us mentally for the Passion week to come. God says he does not want sacrifice but a contrite spirit. It’s so profound that Ash Wednesday begins our journey to the passion. From dirt we were formed and our bodies return to dirt. But our spirits last for eternity. That’s what we need to work on for lent. Not so much as giving up, but getting closer.
If that were the case, I'd still be waiting for Lent to begin. Away from my own parish, I went for what I expected to be evening Mass in another parish. It turned out they were having some kind of preparation for confirmation. The church was packed. By the time I realised that Mass was cancelled and made a quick exit to try for Mass in another church my car was blocked in the carpark. I'm wondering how a half hour talk can be more spiritually beneficial than Holy Mass on Ash Wednesday.
It is raining cats and dogs here, grey and miserable. I waited in for my new washing machine and fridge which never showed. I was very, very tempted to drink some wine and break my Lent to cheer myself up. Then I heard the Lord say, clear as day, ' You know Pádraig you being off drink for Lent is for your good, not mine!' This changed everything. I never thought of it that way before. So no wine.
