Lent 2025

Lent began on Ash Wednesday March 5th and continues for 40+ days until Holy Thursday eve April 17th. This Lent offers us an opportunity for growth. Lent isn’t a sprint, it is a marathon. The issue(s) you are dealing with now will change as your journey progresses. Start with one main issue and see what surfaces as you pilgrimage forward.

Each Lent differs from any prior Lent we have experienced. With each subsequent Lent, we are in a new and unique point of our life cycle and, as such, require fresh insights into the areas where we require growth. We are in different places spiritually. We may have lost a loved one and are grieving. The experience of each Lent is cumulative. The sum of our lifetime of Lents taken together prepares us for our future meeting with God.

One way of looking at Lent is as a retreat. Jesus himself retreated into the desert for that long period. During this sojourn he fasted, was tempted, and made life defining choices. In the same way during the season of Lent, we believers retreat with the catechumens to wrestle with evil, scrutinize our hearts, and make life giving choices. A retreat is a time of spiritual growth and illumination. Lent is all about purification and enlightenment. As with any retreat, many ups and downs, mood shifts, and awakenings occur during this sacred period.

Our life now is a preparation for our own death and meeting with God. Lent serves to awaken us to this true meaning of life in an intense way. We prepare for Easter and ready ourselves for our own passing.

Traditionally, Lent has been viewed as a penitential season. We express this by wearing purple at our liturgies. Penance means to be sorry for wrong deeds and to express our remorse through right actions. These actions shouldn't just be individual and internal but also external and social. (Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy #110)

Lent is a time when we emphasize self-discipline and self- control. We must curb and gain control over our appetites and will. The best way to turn away from bad habits is to be motivated and replace them with better habits. We also examine our lives regarding sin and turn away from wrong actions.

The three pillars of Lent are prayer, fasting, and almsgiving. We pray to come to know God. We fast in obedience in order to gain self-control. We give alms to help others and to grow in generosity. During this long season, we hope to progress in our ongoing conversion. We desire to get closer to God and to experience intimacy. We want to gain self-control. The goal is to grow in virtues such as generosity, patience, and forgiveness. The only way to progress in virtue is to practice virtuous deeds.

Remember, the journey of Lent is not a sprint, but a marathon. If things don’t seem to be happening right away, be patient. Lent is about our personal purification: Personal change. This is called “on-going conversion.” Conversion is our movement towards God, our improvement as God’s people and our striving to become the best we can be. Think progression, not perfection. Change is incremental and will happen if we stay determined.

Lent is also about enlightenment. Through prayer, reading and celebrating the sacramental mysteries our hearts will be illumined and we will deepen our walk with God. Lent is the season to go from the superficial to the supernatural.
You will experience a significant, even life-changing Lent as you concentrate on reaching out to others, personal change and illumination with God.

Excerpts from the book: Your Best Lent Ever! By Fr. Cedric found at: www.frcedric.org or 713-464-4932.

People ask me all the time, “Where do you find the time to write 25 books?” I tell them, “I don’t find time, I make time.” There is always something vying for my time including leisure. But I am goal oriented. I don’t let other things get in the way. Plus, I’ve discovered “boredom is overrated.” I’d rather apply myself and work than be bored. Amen?

Same with prayer. Unless you have a goal to make prayer your priority, time has a way of slipping into the future and prayer becomes an afterthought. But if you are disciplined and plan things out, your preparation will lead to purposeful, meaningful, prayerful, fruitful lives. Seize the day before the day seizes you! After a short time, a disciplined life becomes a lifestyle of discipleship (notice: discipline/disciple, same root word) and fruitfulness. Then, truly, as the Stones sing, “time it’s on my side…yes it is!”

The Scriptures speak of time in many and varied ways. A few examples: “Now is the acceptable time.” “Today is the day of salvation.” “The time is fulfilled.” “One day is like a thousand years and a thousand years like a day.” “God gives us time because of his patience, waiting for us to repent.”

Biblically, time is the fabric by which we have the opportunity to come to eternal life. Time is the great opportunity. Time is the sequential, ordered gift of God.

We gain wisdom by understanding the “shortness of our life.” Once I visited St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome. On the left side towards the front, a haunting statue: It was the final sculpture of the 80 year old Bernini. It is a statue of death holding an hourglass and the sand is quickly slipping away. This statue is a warning to all. It’s timeless message? Time is quickly passing and we all must use it to prepare for death. We must make the most of the time we have, because as we the Steve Miller band so rightly sang, “time keeps on slipping, slipping, slipping into the future.” And, “time waits for no one, no not even you,” to quote the Moody Blues.

That was the question those gathered at Pentecost asked. Peter responded, “Repent.” Personal change is the same truth Jesus announced when he said the time is fulfilled “Repent and believe in the Good news.”

When it comes to time, you have to start somewhere. A great starting place is making a new dedication of yourself to the Lord. Make time to listen to Jesus’ teachings and the teachings of the daily Mass. Create time for prayer. Respond by surrendering your heart to the Lord over and over and over again many times a day. Turn away from any known sin. Dedicate yourself to a fruit bearing lifestyle of discipline and time management. Live with Passion! not passivity.

This long season of Ordinary time (green symbolizing life) can be anything but ordinary if you seize the moments. We have been given a gift…time. It can’t be held in a bottle because it is always slipping into the future. Today is yesterday’s tomorrow. Time moves quickly. Time seems to move faster the older we get. Cher’s wish won’t happen. We can’t turn back time. Live with no regrets!

We are given great optimism in the Bible: Now is the acceptable time. Today is the day of salvation! Therefore, keep making a fresh dedication of yourself to the Lord. Even though time passes, it will be working for you, not against you. As the Rolling Stones sang, “tiiiime is on your side…Yes it is!”