The season of Lent has begun again. 40 days from Ash Wednesday to Easter Sunday. 40 days to sacrifice as Jesus did for us. 40 days to deny temptation. 40 days to prepare for the time of Jesus' crucifixion and resurrection. According to the Gospels, Jesus spent 40 days fasting in the desert before the beginning of his public ministry, where he endured temptation by Satan.
To start off Lent, my sister and I went to an Ash Wednesday service on campus put on by the Catholic campus ministry. It was nice to go to a Catholic service directed towards college-aged people. The priest spoke on typical Lent elements, but it was so good to hear.
He spoke about the importance of almsgiving, prayer and fasting. ALMSGIVING: Being generous not only through money, but also through kindness and talents. PRAYER: Spending time needed in prayer. FASTING: Refocusing physical needs and in turn, allowing others to have our food.
So why the ashes? The ashes represent that we are nothing without God. We are only human, only ashes. We are nothing and He is everything and He came down to love us.
These encouraging words make it a little easier to give something up for Lent. Jesus has done so much for me, so why can't I do something in return? And so for Lent, I decided not to give up something like coffee or chocolate or junk food. Although those may be good for some people to give up, without the best motives, the season can become a time of disguised selfishness. I decided to give something up that would serve me no purpose other than to have more time to focus on Jesus and more time to love people. I'm giving up Facebook and Twitter. My intentions are pure and I want only to grow closer to Jesus during this season.
I can already tell I'm going to like this.
To start off Lent, my sister and I went to an Ash Wednesday service on campus put on by the Catholic campus ministry. It was nice to go to a Catholic service directed towards college-aged people. The priest spoke on typical Lent elements, but it was so good to hear.
He spoke about the importance of almsgiving, prayer and fasting. ALMSGIVING: Being generous not only through money, but also through kindness and talents. PRAYER: Spending time needed in prayer. FASTING: Refocusing physical needs and in turn, allowing others to have our food.
So why the ashes? The ashes represent that we are nothing without God. We are only human, only ashes. We are nothing and He is everything and He came down to love us.
These encouraging words make it a little easier to give something up for Lent. Jesus has done so much for me, so why can't I do something in return? And so for Lent, I decided not to give up something like coffee or chocolate or junk food. Although those may be good for some people to give up, without the best motives, the season can become a time of disguised selfishness. I decided to give something up that would serve me no purpose other than to have more time to focus on Jesus and more time to love people. I'm giving up Facebook and Twitter. My intentions are pure and I want only to grow closer to Jesus during this season.
I can already tell I'm going to like this.
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