Time to Stretch Our Spiritual Muscles
March 2, 2025
Lent begins this week with our celebration of Ash Wednesday. Lent is a 40-day retreat for the entire Church, a time for us to step back from so much of the chaos and turmoil of our lives to focus more closely on our relationship with God.
The season of Lent was originally the final stage of preparation for the catechumens and candidates, leading up to their reception of the Easter sacraments of Baptism, Confirmation and Eucharist. It was a stage in which the focus is more on prayer and spiritually getting ready for their Initiation into the Church. Later, as the Church dropped the Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults, the focus fell on the community at large to prepare to renew their baptisms at Easter. Since the restoration of the RCIA (now known as the OCIA—the Order of Christian Initiation of Adults) the Church has rediscovered the earlier meaning of Lent, without dropping its application to the larger community.
The three special spiritual disciplines of Lent are prayer, fasting and almsgiving. Each of us is encouraged to embrace all three of these disciplines during the Lenten season, to deepen our relationship with Christ. They are disciplines that we are to practice throughout the year, but we especially give our attention to them during Lent.
How will you strive to deepen your prayer life during Lent? Will you make a daily rosary part of your routine, or daily reading of Scripture? Almsgiving is traditionally giving money to the poor, but it also includes our actions in which we seek to serve the least of the brothers and sisters of Christ. What will you do during Lent to stretch your spiritual muscles through almsgiving?
The spiritual discipline that we tend to focus most on is fasting. We have certain days during Lent that are days of fasting and abstinence. Our practice of giving something up during Lent is also an aspect of fasting.
The Church gives us rules for fasting and abstinence. The Church requires all Catholics between the ages of 14 and 59 to fast on Ash Wednesday and Good Friday. That means that on those days we eat one full meal, and all that we eat in addition to this should not add up to a full meal. She also requires that all Catholics 14 and older abstain from eating meat on Ash Wednesday and the Fridays of Lent, including Good Friday. Those who are vegetarians or vegans are asked to make some other kind of sacrifice, since they are already not eating meat.
Our Masses for Ash Wednesday will be at 12:05 pm and 6:30 pm.
—Fr. Mike Comer
Lent begins this week with our celebration of Ash Wednesday. Lent is a 40-day retreat for the entire Church, a time for us to step back from so much of the chaos and turmoil of our lives to focus more closely on our relationship with God.
The season of Lent was originally the final stage of preparation for the catechumens and candidates, leading up to their reception of the Easter sacraments of Baptism, Confirmation and Eucharist. It was a stage in which the focus is more on prayer and spiritually getting ready for their Initiation into the Church. Later, as the Church dropped the Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults, the focus fell on the community at large to prepare to renew their baptisms at Easter. Since the restoration of the RCIA (now known as the OCIA—the Order of Christian Initiation of Adults) the Church has rediscovered the earlier meaning of Lent, without dropping its application to the larger community.
The three special spiritual disciplines of Lent are prayer, fasting and almsgiving. Each of us is encouraged to embrace all three of these disciplines during the Lenten season, to deepen our relationship with Christ. They are disciplines that we are to practice throughout the year, but we especially give our attention to them during Lent.
How will you strive to deepen your prayer life during Lent? Will you make a daily rosary part of your routine, or daily reading of Scripture? Almsgiving is traditionally giving money to the poor, but it also includes our actions in which we seek to serve the least of the brothers and sisters of Christ. What will you do during Lent to stretch your spiritual muscles through almsgiving?
The spiritual discipline that we tend to focus most on is fasting. We have certain days during Lent that are days of fasting and abstinence. Our practice of giving something up during Lent is also an aspect of fasting.
The Church gives us rules for fasting and abstinence. The Church requires all Catholics between the ages of 14 and 59 to fast on Ash Wednesday and Good Friday. That means that on those days we eat one full meal, and all that we eat in addition to this should not add up to a full meal. She also requires that all Catholics 14 and older abstain from eating meat on Ash Wednesday and the Fridays of Lent, including Good Friday. Those who are vegetarians or vegans are asked to make some other kind of sacrifice, since they are already not eating meat.
Our Masses for Ash Wednesday will be at 12:05 pm and 6:30 pm.
—Fr. Mike Comer
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