The Season of Lent
2024
Handouts
What is Ash Wednesday?
~This is the day that marks the start of the Holiest Seasons of the Church…LENT.
~We are marked with Ashes to represent that we are dust and we will return to dust. It reminds us that we are sinful people and that we need to repent and return to God for forgiveness.
What is Lent?
~Lent is a 40 day season of prayer, fasting, and almsgiving that begins on Ash Wednesday and ends at sundown on Holy Thursday. It's a period of preparation to celebrate the Lord's Resurrection at Easter. During Lent, we seek the Lord in prayer by reading Sacred Scripture; we serve by giving alms; and we practice self-control through fasting. We are called not only to abstain from luxuries during Lent, but to a true inner conversion of heart as we seek to follow Christ's will more faithfully. We recall the waters of baptism in which we were also baptized into Christ's death, died to sin and evil, and began new life in Christ.
Many know of the tradition of abstaining from meat on Fridays during Lent, but we are also called to practice self-discipline and fast in other ways throughout the season. Contemplate the meaning and origins of the Lenten fasting tradition in this reflection. In addition, the giving of alms is one way to share God's gifts—not only through the distribution of money, but through the sharing of our time and talents. As St. John Chrysostom reminds us: "Not to enable the poor to share in our goods is to steal from them and deprive them of life. The goods we possess are not ours, but theirs." (Catechism of the Catholic Church, no. 2446).
In Lent, the baptized are called to renew their baptismal commitment as others prepare to be baptized through the Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults, a period of learning and discernment for individuals who have declared their desire to become Catholics.
The Scripture Passages that provides the instructions of Lent are the readings from Ash Wednesday…
Reading 1
Jl 2:12-18
Even now, says the LORD, return to me with your whole heart,
with fasting, and weeping, and mourning; Rend your hearts, not your garments,
and return to the LORD, your God. For gracious and merciful is he,
slow to anger, rich in kindness, and relenting in punishment.
Perhaps he will again relent and leave behind him a blessing,
Offerings and libations for the LORD, your God.
Blow the trumpet in Zion! proclaim a fast,
call an assembly; Gather the people, notify the congregation;
Assemble the elders, gather the children
and the infants at the breast; Let the bridegroom quit his room
and the bride her chamber. Between the porch and the altar
let the priests, the ministers of the LORD, weep,
And say, "Spare, O LORD, your people, and make not your heritage a reproach,
with the nations ruling over them! Why should they say among the peoples,
'Where is their God?'" Then the LORD was stirred to concern for his land
and took pity on his people.
Responsorial Psalm
Ps 51:3-4, 5-6ab, 12-13, 14 and 17
R. Be merciful, O Lord, for we have sinned.
Have mercy on me, O God, in your goodness;
in the greatness of your compassion wipe out my offense.
Thoroughly wash me from my guilt and of my sin cleanse me.
R. Be merciful, O Lord, for we have sinned.
For I acknowledge my offense, and my sin is before me always:
"Against you only have I sinned, and done what is evil in your sight."
R. Be merciful, O Lord, for we have sinned.
A clean heart create for me, O God, and a steadfast spirit renew within me.
Cast me not out from your presence, and your Holy Spirit take not from me.
R. Be merciful, O Lord, for we have sinned.
Give me back the joy of your salvation, and a willing spirit sustain in me.
O Lord, open my lips, and my mouth shall proclaim your praise.
R. Be merciful, O Lord, for we have sinned.
Gospel
Mt 6:1-6, 16-18
Jesus said to his disciples:
"Take care not to perform righteous deeds in order that people may see them;
otherwise, you will have no recompense from your heavenly Father.
When you give alms, do not blow a trumpet before you,
as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets
to win the praise of others. Amen, I say to you,
they have received their reward. But when you give alms,
do not let your left hand know what your right is doing,
so that your almsgiving may be secret. And your Father who sees in secret will repay you.
"When you pray, do not be like the hypocrites,
who love to stand and pray in the synagogues and on street corners
so that others may see them. Amen, I say to you,
they have received their reward. But when you pray, go to your inner room,
close the door, and pray to your Father in secret.
And your Father who sees in secret will repay you.
"When you fast, do not look gloomy like the hypocrites.
They neglect their appearance, so that they may appear to others to be fasting.
Amen, I say to you, they have received their reward.
But when you fast, anoint your head and wash your face,
so that you may not appear to be fasting, except to your Father who is hidden.
And your Father who sees what is hidden will repay you."
~This is the day that marks the start of the Holiest Seasons of the Church…LENT.
~We are marked with Ashes to represent that we are dust and we will return to dust. It reminds us that we are sinful people and that we need to repent and return to God for forgiveness.
What is Lent?
~Lent is a 40 day season of prayer, fasting, and almsgiving that begins on Ash Wednesday and ends at sundown on Holy Thursday. It's a period of preparation to celebrate the Lord's Resurrection at Easter. During Lent, we seek the Lord in prayer by reading Sacred Scripture; we serve by giving alms; and we practice self-control through fasting. We are called not only to abstain from luxuries during Lent, but to a true inner conversion of heart as we seek to follow Christ's will more faithfully. We recall the waters of baptism in which we were also baptized into Christ's death, died to sin and evil, and began new life in Christ.
Many know of the tradition of abstaining from meat on Fridays during Lent, but we are also called to practice self-discipline and fast in other ways throughout the season. Contemplate the meaning and origins of the Lenten fasting tradition in this reflection. In addition, the giving of alms is one way to share God's gifts—not only through the distribution of money, but through the sharing of our time and talents. As St. John Chrysostom reminds us: "Not to enable the poor to share in our goods is to steal from them and deprive them of life. The goods we possess are not ours, but theirs." (Catechism of the Catholic Church, no. 2446).
In Lent, the baptized are called to renew their baptismal commitment as others prepare to be baptized through the Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults, a period of learning and discernment for individuals who have declared their desire to become Catholics.
The Scripture Passages that provides the instructions of Lent are the readings from Ash Wednesday…
Reading 1
Jl 2:12-18
Even now, says the LORD, return to me with your whole heart,
with fasting, and weeping, and mourning; Rend your hearts, not your garments,
and return to the LORD, your God. For gracious and merciful is he,
slow to anger, rich in kindness, and relenting in punishment.
Perhaps he will again relent and leave behind him a blessing,
Offerings and libations for the LORD, your God.
Blow the trumpet in Zion! proclaim a fast,
call an assembly; Gather the people, notify the congregation;
Assemble the elders, gather the children
and the infants at the breast; Let the bridegroom quit his room
and the bride her chamber. Between the porch and the altar
let the priests, the ministers of the LORD, weep,
And say, "Spare, O LORD, your people, and make not your heritage a reproach,
with the nations ruling over them! Why should they say among the peoples,
'Where is their God?'" Then the LORD was stirred to concern for his land
and took pity on his people.
Responsorial Psalm
Ps 51:3-4, 5-6ab, 12-13, 14 and 17
R. Be merciful, O Lord, for we have sinned.
Have mercy on me, O God, in your goodness;
in the greatness of your compassion wipe out my offense.
Thoroughly wash me from my guilt and of my sin cleanse me.
R. Be merciful, O Lord, for we have sinned.
For I acknowledge my offense, and my sin is before me always:
"Against you only have I sinned, and done what is evil in your sight."
R. Be merciful, O Lord, for we have sinned.
A clean heart create for me, O God, and a steadfast spirit renew within me.
Cast me not out from your presence, and your Holy Spirit take not from me.
R. Be merciful, O Lord, for we have sinned.
Give me back the joy of your salvation, and a willing spirit sustain in me.
O Lord, open my lips, and my mouth shall proclaim your praise.
R. Be merciful, O Lord, for we have sinned.
Gospel
Mt 6:1-6, 16-18
Jesus said to his disciples:
"Take care not to perform righteous deeds in order that people may see them;
otherwise, you will have no recompense from your heavenly Father.
When you give alms, do not blow a trumpet before you,
as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets
to win the praise of others. Amen, I say to you,
they have received their reward. But when you give alms,
do not let your left hand know what your right is doing,
so that your almsgiving may be secret. And your Father who sees in secret will repay you.
"When you pray, do not be like the hypocrites,
who love to stand and pray in the synagogues and on street corners
so that others may see them. Amen, I say to you,
they have received their reward. But when you pray, go to your inner room,
close the door, and pray to your Father in secret.
And your Father who sees in secret will repay you.
"When you fast, do not look gloomy like the hypocrites.
They neglect their appearance, so that they may appear to others to be fasting.
Amen, I say to you, they have received their reward.
But when you fast, anoint your head and wash your face,
so that you may not appear to be fasting, except to your Father who is hidden.
And your Father who sees what is hidden will repay you."
Stations of the Cross
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