Lent

Today is Ash Wednesday, it is the offical day that Lent Starts. Before I get into what the BIB team will be doing during Lent I wanted to give you a little bit of back ground...One of our dear friends actively commits to Lent every year. She is of the catholic faith and is so dedicated and is such an inspiration. I am using her information about Lent HERE:

Lent is the period of fasting leading up to the feast of Easter, recalling Jesus' 40-day fast in the wilderness. Catholic Lent begins on Ash Wednesday and ends right before the evening Masses of Holy Thursday, although Lenten penance continues through Holy Saturday.


The purpose of Lent is to be a season of fasting, self-denial, Christian growth, penitence, conversion, and simplicity. Lent, which comes from the Teutonic (Germanic) word for springtime, can be viewed as a spiritual spring cleaning: a time for taking spiritual inventory and then cleaning out those things which hinder our corporate and personal relationships with Jesus Christ and our service to him. Our Lenten disciplines are supposed to help us become more like Christ. There are a few basic tasks that traditionally have been associated with Lent. Many of these have a long history. These are fasting, almsgiving, and prayer. In addition, reading the Scriptures and the Church's Writings can help one grow during Lent.


Fasting: The Western Rite of the Catholic Church requires its members age 18 to 59 to fast on Ash Wednesday and Good Friday, unless a physical condition prevents otherwise. This means only one full meal is permitted. The Fridays of Lent are days of required abstinence, meaning meat, and soups or gravies made of meat, are not permitted.


Prayer: Lent is a good time to develop or strengthen a discipline of daily prayer. Theology and liturgy should always be prayer, so a good discipline for Lent would be to make an effort to attend worship services whenever possible.


Almsgiving (Charity): While Lent is about giving something up (i.e. fasting), it is also about putting something positive in its place. The best way to remove vice is to cultivate virtue. Lent has been a traditional time of helping the poor and doing acts of charity and mercy. While as Christians this is a year round calling, Lent is a good time to examine ways to get involved and to make resolutions to actually do them. Giving alms can be done in more ways than just giving out money to people on the street. It can be done by helping your family, friends, and neighbors out of tight situations or being more generous to hired help.

I posted a blog about Giving It To The Lord, you can read it HERE. We talked about taking the Glenn Beck 40 day challenge that you can read about HERE. We will be implementing some of that challenge with Lent this year. My husband John, BIB Board Treasurer, and I will talking about what we are going to commit to over the next 40 days during Lent. We hope that you will find something that you can work on through out the next 40 days, spiritually cleanse, and find some peace during this time.

John and I are not Catholic but we do have a strong belief in the spiritual cleansing and the sacrifice and focus that takes place during the time of Lent.

John for Lent: I am greatly inspired by the Glenn Beck challenge. I have found that I have let myself become ritualized and am going through the motions. I want to make it a point to have a more personal and spiritual relationship with God. I feel that this 40 day period can jump start me on my way to living the life that the Lord desires for me. Here is what I am working on for Lent.

1. I am going to pray on my knees at least once a day. This will be a prayer of communication with my Lord. I will listen for the guidance of the spirit.

2. I will try to see things as a child sees them. I will take the time to recognize the beauty of the world and the life that I am living.

3. I will make it a point to be honest in all my dealings with my fellow men and with myself. I will tell the truth always and will find a way to deliver that truth without a sharp tongue.

4. I will have daily scripture study and pray for inspiration and revelation during my study.

5. I will abstain from sweets. I will strive to eat more healthy and continue to work on cutting caffeine out of my diet.

6. I will commit to do some form of exercise daily.

7. Pay full tithe.

Ashley for Lent: I have been off caffeine now for 332 days (April 11, 2011 it will be 1 year). It was so hard but now it really isn't an issue. It has been something that I have been very very proud of...SO...starting today for Lent I have a few things that I wanted to work on.

1. I am cutting out sugar and sweets...including cookies, candies, cakes, donettes, and extra sweets of ALL kinds.

2. I have committed to prayer morning and night. My relationship with my Savior is so important and I am looking forward to practicing my Faith through prayer.

3. I will try and plan meals that are more in compliance with the Word of Wisdom. We will be cutting meat out of our meals on Fridays.

4. I will be participating in our 24 hour fast on Fast Sunday.

5. I will have daily scripture study out of the Bible and the Book of Mormon. I will document my study in my journal as I work on my Personal Progress.

6. Pay full tithe

It is my prayer that if you are participating that you will be greatly blessed, that you will be able to cleanse your spirit, strengthen your relationship with your Savior and find great peace...We love you all and may God continue to bless you!

xoxo,

Ashley