Lent
By: Anita
Date: Friday, February 24, 2012
                   Lent? Just four letters but means so much, to us as Catholics. Lent is the Christian season of preparation before Easter Sunday. In Western Christianity, Ash Wednesday marks the first day, or usually the starting of the season of Lent, which lasts for about 40 days. Ash Wednesday is a day when Christians go to Church and get ashes marked on our forehead, in the sign of a cross. The ashes are burnt from the
palms of the year before. Why is there ashes on our head, you might ask? Well, ashes symbolize the sin that we have and the death that we will face. This helps us to remember sins and the redemption that has been given to us all. Lent is a time when we as Christians prepare for Easter by using the time of Lent to fast, pray, and celebrate almsgivings. The purpose of Lent is to reflect on Jesus Christ and His suffering, His sacrifice, His life, death, burial and also His resurrection. "And the Spirit immediately drove him out into the wilderness. He was in the wilderness forty days, tempted by Satan; and he was with the wild beasts; and the angels waited on him. Now after John was arrested, Jesus came to Galilee, proclaiming the Good News of God, and saying, "The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God has come near; repent, and believe in the Good News." Mark 1:12-15. These verses in the bible tell us that there basically is a time for everything. There is a time to pray, sleep, eat and even play. During the about 40 days of lent, the time is too fast, pray, and give. For forty days, Jesus stayed in the desert for forty days and prayed to God. He was tempted but the devil to eat, but Jesus refused. This is the main reason of why lent is so important.