I usually start panic mode about 1 week before lent starts when I usually find myself scrambling around for things we can do for lent. But this time, I thought I will post my findings in a blogpost so that I myself can refer to it in the following years. And also now with Trello, I have everything organized in one place, including all the links to the printables from different blogs.
We have done different things over the past years, with a few things that can be classified as ‘tradition’. I hope to provide some resources in this post, in case you are also scrambling last minute.
Crafts
During lent, we try to do as many Lenten crafts as possible. There are some great ideas at the following blogs:
Some of our favorite things we have done in the past, and which we repeatedly do most years are:
Resurrection Rolls (these are one of our favorites!)
This is how our resurrection tomb looked like.
We made a life size Lenten Cross a few years back with our homeschool group, and then spray-painted it dark brown. Every year during Lent, we bring it out and keep in our living room, and adorn it according to the day of the lent.
We also try to read lots of stories of missionaries and saints during this time.
This year, I put together a Lenten basket (actually 2), to house the things we will be needing for Lent. One basket has some Catholic books pooled from different areas of our house, that I want the kids to go over during Lent. The second has the sacrifice jar, sacrifice beans, stations of the cross, and reminders of what we have chosen to do different this month.
Basically, the main 3 pillars for the Lenten season are Prayer, Fasting and Almsgiving. Most activities we try to do revolve round these 3 themes, as well as to get to know why we do these.
Prayer:
We have been making a lenten prayer chain every year, with a prayer intention written on each link of the 50 links. We then say a decade of the rosary for that intention in addition to the routine prayers.
On Fridays, we do the Stations of the Cross as a family. We all take turns praying each station.
We aim to finish 2 Gospels during the Lenten season.
We also target to read at least 30 minutes a day of Catholic resources, in order to understand our faith better. I put together some resources for the kids, in our Lenten basket.
We also encourage each other to do a daily examination of conscience by ourselves, and see where all we need to change. A good guide for kids to use can be found here.
Fasting:
To be honest, abstaining from meat daily for all the 40 days of lent (In Syro Malabar tradition, we abstain for all 50 days, including Sundays), has not been happening in our house for a long time now; as every Lenten season, it turns out I will either be pregnant, or nursing, LOL! But this year I guess we don’t have that excuse. 🙂
Oh by the way, I came across this resource from the CRS Rice Bowl) for meatless recipes. They seem interesting, and I’m hoping to give it a try!
In families with young children who find it difficult to abstain continuously for all 50 days, doing alternate days can be something to consider.
We do a sacrifice jar by writing in random small sacrifices and picking up and doing one each day.
Fasting is basically denying ourselves/ self-mortification, which helps to strengthen our will and ultimately helps to empty ourselves and make room for God. Apart from the usual fasting of meat, candy, coffee, sweets, we should also try to fast on the following, that Pope Francis recommended.
“The Best Fasting:
• Fast on offensive words and transmit only sweet and tender words
• Fast on dissatisfaction and fill yourself with gratitude.
• Fast on anger and fill yourself with meekness and patience.
• Fast on pessimism and be filled with optimism
• Fast on worries and be filled with confidence in God
• Fast on laments and take pleasure in the simple things of life.
• Fast on stress and fill yourself with prayer.
• Fast on sadness and bitterness, and fill your heart with joy.
• Fast on selfishness, and be filled with compassion for others.
• Fast on unforgivingness and vendetta, and be filled with acts of reconciliation and forgiveness.
• Fast on words and fill yourself with silence and readiness to listen to others.
If we all practice this style of fasting, our everyday will be filled with peace, joy trust in each other, and life.”
Identifying our sinfulness(eg: anger, negativity, judging others, laziness, etc, whatever it be) and fasting from it, should be an option to consider.
Almsgiving:
Almsgiving can be in the form of giving of ourselves in the form of money, materials or time. But any act of charity done without love does not meet the goal.
The best charity comes from a generous heart, no matter how small or big the amount.
When charity involves sacrifice, it is even greater in the eyes of God. Even something simple as encouraging kids to share toys with each other wholeheartedly is a good initial step in cultivating charity.
We participate in the CRS Rice bowl through our parish. It is a great way to help have our kids involved in donating to others.
We also try to do a mini version of the famous ’40 bags in 40 days’, which is commonly done during the lenten season. The basic idea is to fill up 40 big trash bags of stuff we don’t need or don’t use and donate it or toss away. This enables us to realize how much stuff we have that we actually don’t need, and how to live a more simpler life without depending too much on material things. Due to time restraints, we may not end up getting rid of 40 bags during this particular time, but we do try to declutter and donate throughout the year.
Charity can also be doing small things, what you would normally put away. For example, if you are not the type of person who likes to take your kids to the park daily, it can be a small sacrifice or self-mortification process to do so. If you find it inconvenient at times to cater to someone else’s needs, when you are in the middle of something; maybe that can be a small sacrifice you can do. Or even being fully present for your kids for a solid half hour. Even just saying the three magic words of ‘please’, ‘thank you’ and ‘sorry’ more regularly is a good way of giving ‘alms’.
It may also be a good practice to ask up-front what character issue one needs to work on, and then try to develop the virtue over the lenten season. Maybe if you struggle with anger, or laziness or worry, you can find appropriate resources and work on it prayerfully. Even taking the time to find out what is keeping you from experiencing God (spiritual pride, wrong priorities, etc.), and working on ways to overcome it, is a great way for making lenten sacrifices.
Pope Francis proposes these 15 simple acts of charity as concrete manifestations of love:
“1. SMILE. A Christian is always cheerful
2. Say THANK YOU for little things (even if you don’t have to).
3. Remind others how much you LOVE them.
4. GREET with joy the persons you see every day.
5. LISTEN to other people’s stories without prejudice, and with love.
6. STOP to help. Pay attention to whoever needs you.
7. Try to RAISE the spirits of people around you.
8. CELEBRATE the qualities or success of others, thus avoiding envy or jealousy.
9. SORT OUT the things you no longer use or need, and give them to those in need.
10. Be ready to HELP when you are needed so that others may rest.
11. GIVE CORRECTIONS with love, do not keep quiet out of fear.
12. Maintain good relations with those around you.
13. Keep clean the things you use in the house.
14. HELP others overcome obstacles.
15. CALL, and call on, your parents more often.”
Lenten season is not only about doing some routine things, or traditions, but actually working on your inner core values of forgiveness, generosity, compassion, by combining our sufferings and sacrifices to the sacrifice of the cross, and in turn exuding love for God and love for our neighbor, which is the fundamental Commandment. Working on building good virtues and spiritual discipline may come in to be the best things we can try to do during lent, which can actually change our whole self for the better of those around us, and possibly carried on to the rest of our life.
I have made some ‘Lent packet printables’ to help you in planning and executing your Lenten resolutions. You may grab it below!
Wish you a blessed Lenten journey!
