Lent begins this year on Wednesday February 22, which means it is the first day of the 40 day journey towards Holy Week and Easter. The first day of Lent is traditionally called “Ash Wednesday,” and depending on what one’s tradition is, Lent ends during Holy Week (the week following Palm Sunday). Easter this year is April 9th.
As with most years, many People in our community take part in Lent in very meaningful ways. I want to invite all of us to think about how we could participate in joining the global church community in celebrating Lent this year. Some people take part in a fast, while others use these 40 days as a time of reflection. However you feel you would like to participate in celebrating Lent is up to you. There are a lot of amazing ways people from all over the world take part in this six week period leading up to Good Friday, and it would be amazing to celebrate it with you. Consider joining us in this time of focused devotion to God as we worship Jesus together in these days leading up to the celebration of Easter.
To help us reflect on this time of waiting, fasting, and seeking the Lord as we move towards Easter, check out these resources:
Fun Lent memes for your viewing pleasure.
For Lent this year, NT Wright offers a free YouTube devotional you can follow here.
There are also some good resources from Crosswalk.com that can help give us some ideas of what Lent is and how we can celebrate it, those resources can be viewed here and here.
A good video exhortation about Lent from Father Mike Schmitz.
What to give up for Lent? See some creative things you can give up this year for Lent? See here
Lent prayers and activities for families. (from Sadlier Religion)
From our friends “down under” in Australia, check out this 7-week devotional series for Lent with prayer, art and spiritual practices to help us focus on and follow Jesus in these days leading up to Easter.
Lent: Finding God in the Chaos (daily reflections on Lent sent to your email every morning)