| "Make Lent a time to practice waiting and to learn the meaning of time." |
The Lenten season lasts for forty days, or seven weeks. Often, this seems like a long time.
Even though for adults the weeks may go fast, for children times like this can drag on and on and on. We can make Lent a time to practice waiting, to learn the meaning of time, and to experience perseverance in our Lenten resolutions.
A Sampling of Sacrifices
Take a tour of your home and see how many different objects you have for keeping track of time. Sit down together and try to imagine and talk about what it must have been like before calendars and clocks existed.
To emphasize the journey aspect of Lent, talk about an exodus you've each experienced - such as what it was like to move to a new home or what it was like going away to camp for the first time. Remember ancestors who came across the ocean to the New World. Draw on a map the route by which your family came to its own "Land of Milk and Honey".
For forty years, the Israelites lived in tents, as wanderers, learning to become the Lord’s people. If you like to camp, plan a night under canvas, even in the backyard, for a memorable Lenten experience. Watch the stars together, the same stars that patterned the skies above the Covenant People.
Use a cactus plant as a centerpiece to remember Christ’s fast in the desert.
Set aside some time this week to give to someone who needs us. Or call a friend you have not spoken to in some time or maybe a relative who has somehow become estranged.
Call someone in the parish and share with them a good quality you see in them.
Beginning Lent
Second Week of Lent
Third Week of Lent
Fourth Week of Lent
Fifth Week of Lent
Sixth Week of Lent - Holy Week
Stations of the Cross
Family Seder Meal
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