Lent

1
Lent

• They shall look on Him whom they have pierced
• Jn 1937

2
What is Lent?

• Lent is the forty day period before Easter,
  excluding Sundays, which begins on Ash Wednesday
  and ends on Holy Saturday (the day before Easter
  Sunday).

3
Why forty?

• In Latin, quadragesima which means forty.
• A Spanish derivation of this is cuaresma.
• In Filipino, is known as kuwaresma.

4
Why forty?

• The number forty is found frequently in
  scripture to signify either a time of penitential
  preparation, or a time of punishment and
  affliction sent from God.
• The Old Testament is replete with examples of
  the use of forty
• God punished mankind by sending a flood over the
  earth that lasted forty days and forty nights
  (Gen 712)
• the people of Ninevah repented with forty days of
  fasting when Jonah preached the destruction of
  Ninevah (Jonah 34)
• Moses and the Hebrew people wandered in the
  desert for forty years (Num 1434)
• the Prophet Ezekiel had to lie on his right side
  for forty days as a figure of the siege that was
  to bring Jerusalem to destruction (Ez 46)
• the Prophet Elijah fasted and prayed on Mount
  Horeb for forty days (1 Kings 198) and finally,
  
• Moses fasted forty days and forty nights while on
  Mt. Sinai (Ex 3428).

5
Why forty?

• In the New Testament we find Our Lord fasting
  and praying for forty days and forty nights in
  the desert in preparation for the public ministry
  that would end in his redeeming death.

By the solemn forty days of Lent the Church
unites herself each year to the mystery of Jesus
in the desert. Catholic Catechism, 540
6
Why do we use ash?

• In the Old Testament ashes were used as a sign
  of humility and mortality as well as sorrow and
  repentance for sin.
• Biblical basis
• In the Book of Esther, Mordecai put on sackcloth
  and ashes when he heard of the decree of King
  Ahasuerus to kill all of the Jewish people in the
  Persian Empire (Esther 41).
• Job repented in sackcloth and ashes (Job 426).
• Prophesying the Babylonian captivity of
  Jerusalem, Daniel wrote, "I turned to the Lord
  God, pleading in earnest prayer, with fasting,
  sackcloth, and ashes" (Daniel 93).
• Jesus  made reference to ashes, "If the
  miracles worked in you had taken place in Tyre
  and Sidon, they would have reformed in sackcloth
  and ashes long ago" (Matthew 1121).

7
Why do we use ash?

• Church Tradition
• The use of ashes is thought to have begun with
  Pope Gregory the Great in the 6th century.
• Receiving ashes on the head as a reminder of
  mortality and a sign of sorrow for sin was a
  practice of the church by the 10th century.
• The Church adapted the use of ashes to mark the
  beginning of the penitential season of Lent, when
  we remember our mortality and mourn for our sins.
  
• The ashes are from burnt palm. In some places
  the ashes are put on the forehead, in the sign of
  the cross, as a reminder of the anointing with
  oil in baptism. In other places, ashes are
  scattered on the top of the head.

8
What are we to do in this season?

• First, we are ask to perform 3 things
• Prayer
• Fasting
• Alms-giving

9
What are we to do in this season?

• It is highly recommended that we receive the
  Sacrament of Reconciliation during this season.

10
What are we to do in this season?

• Secondly, we are called to share in the
  suffering of Christ through our fasting and
  abstinence. The Church requires us to fast and
  abstain on Ash Wednesday and Good Friday.
  Abstinence every Friday of the season of Lent.
• Abstinence means not eating any kind of meat and
  by-products, except eggs, milk and cheese. In
  modern times, we can abstain by refraining from
  engaging anything that is pleasurable to oneself.
• Fasting, on the other hand, means eating one
  whole meal in a day, without any snacks in
  between.

11
What are we to do in this season?

• Also, we can do the following Catholic practices
  during this season
• Way of the Cross
• Open Retreat/ Recollection
• Acts of Mercy (Corporal and Spiritual)
• Bible reading
• Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament
• Holy week procession

12
What are we to remember in this season?

• As we begin this holy season of Lent in
  preparation for Easter, we must remember the
  significance of the ashes we have received
• We mourn and do penance for our sins.
• We again convert our hearts to the Lord, who
  suffered, died, and rose for our salvation.
• We renew the promises made at our baptism, when
  we died to an old life and rose to a new life
  with Christ.
• Finally, mindful that the kingdom of this world
  passes away, we strive to live the kingdom of God
  now and look forward to its fulfillment in
  heaven.

13
Prayer

• Almighty and everlasting God,
• you despise nothing you have made
• and forgive the sins of all who are penitent.
• Create and make in us new and contrite hearts,
• that we, worthily lamenting our sins
• and acknowledging our brokenness,
• may obtain of you, the God of all mercy,
• perfect remission and forgiveness
• through Jesus Christ our Lord,
• who lives and reigns with you and the Holy
  Spirit,
• one God, for ever and ever.
• Amen.