I grew up in a Baptist/non-denominational home so Lent wasn’t part of my childhood. I heard about it from time to time, but my friends said it was a misguided effort, focused on earning salvation. When my family came to Catholicism, I began to understand why Lent is so meaningful.
Lent removes our pretenses and our pride, and helps us approach the Cross — and the Empty Tomb — in humility and awe. It has nothing to do with earning salvation, and everything to do with walking closer with Christ.
It is about rejecting sin and Satan. It is about confessing our belief in God – belief strong enough to let go of whatever we cling to so that we may cling to God instead…so He can accomplish His mission through our cooperation.
KERRY DAVISON
A Meaningful Lent for Mom
As a mom, it can feel like Lent year-round.
We have plenty of opportunities for sacrifice, children who need prayer, and family and friends in need of our time and service.
But the pillars of fasting, prayer, and charity are still a wonderful way to have a meaningful Lent. They help me see these things not just as duties, but as a way to imitate Christ and minister to Him.
Fasting
We all know the Church’s days of fast and abstinence help us put things in their proper place. But it’s easy to forget that our voluntary sacrifices are also a part of fasting.
While this form of fasting helps order our loves, it can be difficult to discern which of our loves are keeping us from God.
As Kerry Davison says in another Lenten reflection: if we are going to imitate Christ’s time in the desert, we need to imitate how He got there. The Spirit guided Him.
Just today, I encouraged my daughter to ask the Holy Spirit to show her what He wants her to let go of this Lent.
I’ll be asking the same for myself.
Prayer
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Our parish priest often talks about the necessity of prayer — because we can’t have a relationship with someone we never talk to!
A friend shared the Hallow app with me and it has made a big difference in my prayer life.
At first I was concerned because the app uses words like “session” and “meditation”.
Then I read about the important difference between Christian meditation and other forms of meditation or mindfulness:
Christian meditation should not be confused with the secular practice of mindfulness meditation. The difference is that instead of emptying our mind of all thoughts to find peace, we enter into silence with God to fill our hearts with His presence.
…The key to Christian meditation is that the object of our meditation helps us focus on, and grow closer to, God. {emphases mine}
HALLOW APP
I can pray with the app while exercising on the glider, or I can sit on the couch for a 5-minute scripture reflection. While I’ve been using the app at least once a week, I’d like to use it more during Lent.
My husband recently discovered the Bible in a Year from The Augustine Institute and he’s excited to begin reading it this Lent. I’m tempted to borrow it…
Charity
Since I don’t have babies or toddlers anymore (*sniff), I have more time for outside service and giving.
But I don’t have a plan that says “volunteer at the soup kitchen” or “donate to the women’s center.” Instead, I try to be more attentive to needs that are shared during Lent.
If you’re in a season with lots of little ones, or you have other limitations, you can actually make your family the focus of your giving.
Share an extra smile, buy them the Dollar Tree sunglasses that will break next week….just little things that make life special.
A Meaningful Lent for the Family
As a family, we build on this same foundation of fasting, prayer, and charity.
Fasting
We each choose a personal sacrifice, but we share our intentions with the rest of the family. This helps ensure the kids choose things in the proper spirit and without anxious over-reaching.
While we only expect this of children 7 and up, our younger kids always want to get in on the plans.
Last year, our five year old decided to give up her favorite stuffed animals. I was concerned this would be too much for her but she was determined to do it. And she did!
Prayer
We’re working on it, but with several people having ADHD, family prayer is a tough thing here. One thing we want to do is pray the Stations of the Cross at our parish.
We’re not sure if COVID will get in the way of that plan, but I found these amazing posters at Holy Heroes.
These can be used as an at-home Stations devotion if it’s not available at your parish.
Another way we live Lent is by changing our daily homeschool prayer. We usually say a prayer by St. Thomas Aquinas, but I plan to switch to the Anima Christi for Lent. I’ve always loved this prayer:
Soul of Christ, sanctify me.
ANIMA CHRISTI
Body of Christ, save me.
Blood of Christ, inebriate me.
Water from the side of Christ, wash me.
Passion of Christ, strengthen me.
O good Jesus, hear me.
Within your wounds, hide me…
Charity
I’d like to have something official planned for this, but for now we try to help as a family when a particular need comes up.
One year, a child wanted to support the chapel renovations for the Knights of the Holy Eucharist. We asked the other kids if they wanted to contribute as part of their Lent and we then made it a family gift.
It’s a simple approach, but I think it’s a good start.
2022 Update:
This year we used the Pray, Fast, Give printable from Look to Him and Be Radiant. It was a hit!
The sacrifice cards are editable so the kids and I customized them together. A couple of the kids need more guidance with prayer so we added a specific prayer, such as the Memorare or Eternal Rest, to each of the “Pray” cards.
For prayers they haven’t learned yet, or haven’t learned completely, I printed out some prayer cards for them to follow.
I then customized and printed Katie’s Lectio Divina cards for the older kids and added a “Pray” card for them.
To keep everything together, I made a second pocket holder for the Lectio Divina instruction cards and the prayer cards.
Each child drew a card each day, rotating through the three pillars of Lent!
Remembering Lent in the Home
When it comes to the house, things are pretty low-key during Lent.
We don’t ban music or movies, but we do add Lenten hymns and religious movies to our options.
I usually wait until Easter to bring spring flowers into the house. My husband knows this, so he started a tradition where he brings me a flowering hyacinth the last week of Lent. During COVID, he brought it home early! It’s a lovely reminder that life is about to spring forth at Easter.
Simple Activities for Lent
I love handcrafts, and I’ve taught them to the kids, but I get really overwhelmed by craft-based learning activities.
So instead of crafts, we read stories, watch videos, and print out coloring pages. The kids love it, mom stays sane, and we have meaningful conversations about Lent. Win!
Our favorite Lenten activities and resources are:
Catechism of the Seven Sacraments* – a graphic-novel style catechism that uses LEGO® to tell the story of Salvation History. The kids have learned SO much from it!
*The above link is not sponsored, but StoryTel Press is a client of our family’s marketing/design business.
Holy Heroes Lenten Adventure – kid-led videos about Lent and Lenten feast days, prayers, coloring pages, audio stories about the saints, and other printable activities. {FREE}
Stations, Rosary, & Saints Coloring Pages – our former parish in Virginia has tons of free coloring pages with beautiful artwork. {FREE}
Meaningful, Not Perfect
Our Lenten devotions won’t win awards for being the most ascetic, elaborate, or symbolic.
But they will help us walk with the Suffering Servant and they will prepare us to rejoice with Him at Easter. Our Lent will be meaningful.
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