1. © 2009 Terry Modica, Catholic Digital Resources – catholicdr.com
Catholic Digital Resources presents . . .
What is the Meaning of Lent? The life-changing 40-day pilgrimage to Easter
© 2009 Terry Modica, Catholic Digital Resources – catholicdr.com

2. How much do you know about God?
The Meaning of Lent
How much do you know about God?
What percentage of your brain has acquired knowledge of God?
Some scientists say we think with only 10% of our brains.
How much of everything you’ve learned so far (within that 10%) is the portion that contains understanding of God?
Let’s be generous and say one percent.
How little we know!

3. How much do you know about God? The Book of Wisdom says:
The Meaning of Lent
How much do you know about God?
The Book of Wisdom says:
The first step towards acquiring Wisdom is a sincere desire for instruction; the desire for instruction is love; And love is the keeping of her laws.
Wisdom 6:18

4. we probably would not sin.
The Meaning of Lent
Sin happens
because we understand so little.
That’s why Jesus said on the Cross: "Father forgive them, for they know not what they do."
If we were fully aware
of the harm that our sins cause and how good God really is, and how passionately He cares about us, and how much He can help us find holy alternatives to sinful behavior …
we probably would not sin.

5. Then we can go to God for help!
The Meaning of Lent
The only way to overcome sin is to BE AWARE:
Be aware of what we’re doing.
Be aware of what God is doing.
Be aware of what God wants.
Be aware of why He wants it (why it’s loving).
Be aware of what’s unloving about our behavior.
Be aware of how loving God is.
Then we can go to God for help!

6. The Meaning of Lent
We can go to God for help…
in the Sacrament of Reconciliation
where He gives us His merciful love
and He gives us His supernatural help (His “grace”) to overcome the sins that we’ve confessed.
Lent is a season of becoming more aware of our need for God to help us overcome sin.

7. Lent is a season in the Christian liturgical calendar.
The Meaning of Lent
Lent is a season in the Christian liturgical calendar. 
It’s forty days of preparing for:
the celebration of Easter and…
the benefits of living as an Easter people.
Q: What does it mean to be an “Easter people”?
We have been resurrected from the destructiveness of our sinfulness.
We are alive in the faith.
We’re going to heaven after we die.

8. Ash Wednesday begins the Season of Lent.
The Meaning of Lent
Ash Wednesday begins the Season of Lent.
Ashes are made from burning the palm branches from last year’s Palm Sunday celebration.
Ashes represent our mortality, which was caused by the destructiveness of sin.
Ashes are smudged on our foreheads in the sign of the CROSS, to remind us that Jesus took the destruction upon Himself.
The minister (priest or lay person) who gives us the ashes says one of the following:
“Remember, you are dust, and to dust you will return.”
“Turn away from sin and be faithful to the Gospel.”
Anyone may receive the ashes (even non-Catholics)!

9. The Meaning of Lent
Lent has 40 days
Sundays during Lent are not considered part of the 40 days.
Sundays always celebrate the Lord’s resurrection.
After the 40 days comes the Holy Triduum:
Holy Thursday
Good Friday
Holy Saturday
Then comes Easter!

10. Lent unites us to the experience of Jesus
The Meaning of Lent
Lent unites us to the experience of Jesus
when he spent 40 days in the desert.
He was tempted by the devil during those 40 days and resisted sinning.
When He refused to sin, Jesus conquered the Tempter for us.
By uniting ourselves to Jesus more closely during Lent, we become stronger in resisting temptation.

11. Therefore, Lent is 40 days of examining
The Meaning of Lent
Therefore, Lent is 40 days of examining
our own lives more than we normally do,
to become more aware of the ways we succumb to temptation,
so that we can ask for and receive forgiveness,
and become stronger in holiness.
Lent is a time of purification.
To help us with this, we have 3 special practices:
Fasting
Prayer
Almsgiving

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