Pope Francis places ashes on a cardinal on Ash Wednesday. (Vatican Media)
There are many religious holidays that are celebrated in the spring, including Passover, Ramadan, and Easter. With all three holidays, the period leading up to the holiday is very important. For those who celebrate Easter, this period is Lent, a 40-day period of reflection.
Pope Francis, the head of the Catholic Church, said in his message for Lent, “Lent is a propitious time to resist these temptations and to cultivate instead a more integral form of human communication made up of ‘authentic encounters’—face-to-face and in person.”
For Latin-rite Catholics, Lent begins on Ash Wednesday, which was March 2 for this year; it will end on April 14, Holy Thursday. Fasting and abstinence, prayer, and almsgiving are the main components of Lent.
Catholics abstain from meat on Ash Wednesday and all Fridays during Lent, possibly attaining higher communion through this. By not eating the meat of warm-blooded animals, Catholics remember Good Friday, the day the Bible says Jesus died on the cross. This ritual was made by the Catholic Church and used to be much more strict until 1966. Before then, the Catholic Church forbade consuming meat on Ash Wednesdays and all Fridays. In 1966, Pope Paul VI relaxed this rule, resulting in meat only being prohibited on Ash Wednesday, Good Friday, and Fridays of Lent.
Ash Wednesday is also a day of fasting. Members of the Latin Catholic Church between the ages of 18-59 usually observe this fast.
Catholics practice self-discipline in other ways as well. Many Catholics give up things during Lent as a way to remember Jesus’s 40-day prayer and fast before his death. This act helps Catholics renew their connection to Jesus and their spiritual beliefs. Things people give up include actual physical goods like sugar and coffee or habits like gossiping and watching television.
In his Lenten message, the pope spoke out against social media, a common thing that people give up during Lent. He said that an addiction to “digital media, which impoverishes human relationships,” is an indication of concupiscence, the tendency to sin.
Refocusing on healthy practices through prayer and active charity are two of the other tenets of Lent.
Many Catholics try to deepen their prayer life during Lent. Some begin a habit of daily prayer or join or start a prayer group. This helps Christians prepare spiritually for Easter and also “rededicate” themselves to prayer.
Almsgiving, or charitable giving, is also called for during Lent. This reminds Christians of the role that compassion plays in their religion. This practice does not just include donating financially but donating one’s time as well through volunteering.
Lent is a time for Christians to remember Jesus’s resistance to temptation and repent. Focus on practices like self-discipline and almsgiving can be renewed during this period and continued even after Lent ends.
