Lent 2024
Daily Eucharist during Lent
Monday - Friday 7:30 am, 9:00 am and 5:30 pm
Saturdays at 8:30AM
Lenten Practices
What does it mean to fast?
Fasting is more than simply self control around food. Spiritual fasting enhances our hunger for God. Fasting is one of the most ancient practices in Lent.
When do we fast?
Catholics between the ages of 18 and 59 are required to fast on Ash Wednesday and Good Friday. This means we do not eat food between meals. We eat one full meal a day and the other two meals should not total that one full meal. When we fast we are more alert and open to the activities of God in our lives.
What does it mean to abstain?
To abstain is to refrain from eating meat as an act of penance and sacrifice. Since many people in our world cannot afford to eat meat, our abstaining from eating meat can put us in solidarity with the hungry and poor of the world.
When do we abstain?
Catholics abstain from meat on Ash Wednesday and all the Fridays of Lent. All Catholics who have completed their fourteenth year of age are bound by the law of abstinence.
What ways do we pray in Lent?
Lent is a time to make a conscious effort to pray more and with greater regularity. The celebration of the Eucharist is considered the source and summit of Catholic prayer. Actively preparing for Sunday by reading the assigned Scripture readings ahead of time can be part of one’s Lenten discipline. You can find the scripture citations for the next Sunday in the bulletin each week. You can choose to celebrate Mass more often than just on Sundays. Our weekday masses are at 7:30AM, 9:00AM Monday through Friday and 5:30PM on Lenten Mondays – Thursdays. Set aside time for personal prayer each day. Pray as a family before meals. Bless one another with the sign of the cross on the forehead before leaving the house in the morning or before bed at night.
How will I use my treasure during Lent? Almsgiving!
Almsgiving is more than giving money. It is all the things we can do to make the broken world whole again. The aim of giving alms is to right the wrong distribution caused by greed or power or anything else. We can give our time, talent, and treasure as almsgiving. What donations could you make to charity this Lent? Could you forgive someone a monetary debt they owe you?
As you come to receive ashes this Ash Wednesday make a promise that you will be faithful to the Lenten practices of fasting, prayer and almsgiving. Make room for God and one another this Lent
