Lent is the 40-day season of reflection and preparation for Holy Week, when we celebrate the death and resurrection of Jesus the Messiah. It is a time of repentance, of considering Christ’s sufferings and rethinking how we are called to take up our own crosses. During this time many Christians fast, which means to abstain from food or some other pleasure. Some Christians integrate something new into their lives like visiting the sick, the imprisoned, a new prayer practice, and so on. It is a good season to rethink how we live and to let some things go, or maybe even develop some new holy habits. Ash Wednesday marks the beginning of Lent. (Adapted from Common Prayer: A Liturgy for Ordinary Radicals)
“We invite you, therefore, in the name of Jesus, to the observance of a holy Lent, by self-examination and repentance; by prayer, fasting, and self-denial; and by reading and meditating on God’s holy Word. And, to make a right beginning of repentance, and as a mark of our mortal nature, let us now kneel before the Lord, maker and redeemer.”
(Adapted from The Book of Common Prayer)