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I am a Protestant Christian. My Church and family do not really participate/fast during Lent.
It's not discouraged, but rather glossed over. I see the importance of fasting and reflecting during the time before Resurrection Sunday.
For someone who doesn't have a lot of guidance in the Lenten Season, what are some tips and guidelines; and what is traditionally practiced by Catholics during the season of Lent?
From a religious aspect, how is fasting done and what is taking place in lieu of giving up food?
Thank you for reading this, I apologize if it is long.
God Bless!
Jess
{
What are some tips and guidelines traditionally practiced by Catholics during the season of Lent? }
Mike replied:
Dear, Jess —
Sorry, it took a while to get back to you. Here's my two cents; my colleagues may have more to add.
You said:
For someone who doesn't have a lot of guidance in the Lenten Season, what are some tips and guidelines; and what is traditionally practiced by Catholics during the season of Lent?
Catholics and many Protestant Christians practice sacrificing and giving things up for Lent because it is a season of penance. As the Catechism states:
Jesus' temptations.
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540 Jesus' temptation reveals the way in which the Son of God is Messiah, contrary to the way satan proposes to him and the way men wish to attribute to him. (cf. Matthew 16:21-23) This is why Christ vanquished the Tempter for us: "For we have not a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tested as we are, yet without sinning." (Hebrews 4:15) By the solemn forty days of Lent the Church unites herself each year to the mystery of Jesus in the desert.
The Holy Spirit prepares for the reception of Christ.
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1095 For this reason the Church, especially during Advent and Lent and above all at the Easter Vigil, re-reads and re-lives the great events of salvation history in the today of her liturgy. But this also demands that catechesis help the faithful to open themselves to this spiritual understanding of the economy of salvation as the Church's liturgy reveals it and enables us to live it.
1434 The interior penance of the Christian can be expressed in many and various ways. Scripture and the Fathers insist above all on three forms, fasting, prayer, and almsgiving, (cf. Tobit 12:18; Matthew 6:1-18) which express conversion in relation to oneself, to God, and to others. Alongside the radical purification brought about by Baptism or martyrdom they cite as means of obtaining forgiveness of sins: effort at reconciliation with one's neighbor, tears of repentance, concern for the salvation of one's neighbor, the intercession of the saints, and the practice of charity "which covers a multitude of sins." (1 Peter 4:8; cf. James 5:20)
1435 Conversion is accomplished in daily life by gestures of reconciliation, concern for the poor, the exercise and defense of justice and right, (cf. Amos 5:24; Isaiah 1:17) by the admission of faults to one's brethren, fraternal correction, revision of life, examination of conscience, spiritual direction, acceptance of suffering, endurance of persecution for the sake of righteousness. Taking up one's cross each day and following Jesus is the surest way of penance. (cf. Luke 9:23)
1436 Eucharist and Penance. Daily conversion and penance find their source and nourishment in the Eucharist, for in it is made present the sacrifice of Christ which has reconciled us with God. Through the Eucharist those who live from the life of Christ are fed and strengthened. "It is a remedy to free us from our daily faults and to preserve us from mortal sins." (Council Of Trent (1551): DS 1638.)
1437 Reading Sacred Scripture, praying the Liturgy of the Hours and the Our Father - every sincere act of worship or devotion revives the spirit of conversion and repentance within us and contributes to the forgiveness of our sins.
These times are particularly appropriate for spiritual exercises, penitential liturgies, pilgrimages as signs of penance, voluntary self-denial such as fasting and almsgiving, and fraternal sharing (charitable and missionary works).
1439 The process of conversion and repentance was described by Jesus in the parable of the prodigal son, the center of which is the merciful father: (cf. Luke 15:11-24) the fascination of illusory freedom, the abandonment of the father's house; the extreme misery in which the son finds himself after squandering his fortune; his deep humiliation at finding himself obliged to feed swine, and still worse, at wanting to feed on the husks the pigs ate; his reflection on all he has lost; his repentance and decision to declare himself guilty before his father; the journey back; the father's generous welcome; the father's joy - all these are characteristic of the process of conversion. The beautiful robe, the ring, and the festive banquet are symbols of that new life - pure worthy, and joyful - of anyone who returns to God and to the bosom of his family, which is the Church. Only the heart of Christ who knows the depths of his Father's love could reveal to us the abyss of his mercy in so simple and beautiful a way.
Some of these Lenten practices include, but are not limited to:
fasting on a regular basis (in what we regularly eat) within healthy guidelines
fasting from other food items, we really like, for example: ice cream, pizza, donuts, or coffee
giving up some non-food items like, not using our smart phone, not watching TV, not using the computer as much, or something else
Studying some Catholic history or reading the writings of the Early Church Fathers, etc.
(For a Catholic,) going to Confession, especially if one has been away from this dynamite sacrament for a while.
Finally, most parishes have:
The Stations of the Cross by (St. Alphonsus Liguori|St. Francis of Assisi)
(also know as the Way of the Cross) every Wednesday or Friday though, during COVID, the time and place may be adjusted a bit. (This last one is a great practice that I highly encourage people to do weekly; you can also do the Stations of the Cross privately after Sunday Mass.)
Even as a Protestant Christian (or like many busy Catholic workers), you should be able to find a Stations of the Cross booklet or pamphlet at a nearby Catholic or Christian gift shop. You can meditate on each station at your nearby congregation or set some time to do it in your home.
Mike
John replied:
Dear Jess,
Just a few thoughts when it comes to fasting or any other discipline.
It's very important that we place our faith in Christ and that He remains the object of faith rather than the spiritual disciplines becoming the object of our faith.
The purpose of fasting or almsgiving or any discipline is to draw us closer to God. Fasting is a way of denying our own desires and allowing God to fill the hunger only He can fill. It turns down the volume of our flesh (our desires . . . not necessarily lust, but any selfish or self gratifying desire) so that we can better hear the Voice of God. We turn up the Volume of the Holy Spirit, through prayer and Scripture reading and by just spending quiet time with the Lord listening.
All disciplines should lead us to surrender more and more of our lives to Jesus Christ but it's not disciplines we must place our faith in. It's not a recipe or a formula that works on its own.
Remember the Book of Hebrews tells us very clearly:
