The Lenten Season

Lent is an exciting season of celebration, reflection, and preparation before Easter. Lent includes the holidays of Ash Wednesday, Good Friday, Palm Sunday, Easter, and more. On Ash Wednesday, the first day of lent, Ashes are put on believers’ foreheads as a sign of repentance. Easter celebrates the end of lent and the resurrection of Jesus from the dead. Although Lent is a time to praise and rejoice in Jesus’ sacrifices for us, Lent is observed by fasting from both food and festivities.

During Lent, Christians also worship Christ’s sacrifice and journey into the desert for 40 days. Although Easter celebrates the resurrection of Jesus after his death on the cross, Lent also commemorates the events leading up to Christ’s crucifixion. According to the Catholic Encyclopedia, “The purpose of Lent is to provide that purification by weaning men from sin and selfishness through self-denial and prayer, by creating in them the desire to do God’s will and to make His kingdom come by making it come first of all in their hearts.”

When asked for her personal definition of lent, Sam Zebick, senior, stated, “In my opinion, lent is a time of sacrificing, just as Jesus sacrificed his life for own our good. Lent is a time of reflection in which we can focus on bettering ourselves the way Jesus asks of us. We should take this time to focus on our wants and desires and limit them as a demonstration of sacrifice.”

Another aspect of Lent is giving up something to honor and symbolize Jesus’ own sacrifices to us. This year, I am sacrificing soda. Although giving up soda is obviously not as significant as Jesus giving his life for us, it is a symbol of Christ’s loving sacrifice.

Don’t forget to sacrifice something and appreciate Jesus this Lenten season!

By Maddy Looney ’18

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