I have to admit I hoped 2021 would be kinder than 2020. This week's winter storms and power outages proved that one cannot just turn a page in a calendar and hope all the chaos of the previous year just disappears.
Spending the week in survival mode (which I am not very good at), resulted in a delay of the usual posting of my favorite Lent video. This year I want to take more action in sharing my faith, so to catch up from the first three days of Lent I decided to post.
First, I always enjoy sharing this Busted Halo Video which explains the why behind Lent.
As a child, I thought Lent was solely about giving something up. Growing older and studying my faith in more depth showed me how we focus on three pillars: fasting, praying, and almsgiving. This added a new dimension to how I viewed my Lenten promise. Yes, I can give up chocolate or soda/caffeine, but what am I doing to improve my prayer life? To whom am I giving my money, time, and talents during this season?
I realized it is not only about the sacrifice. As a matter of fact, Busted Halo also wrote a fantastic piece about using social media to document your Lenten journey rather than just logging off for 40 days and being done with it. Not that there is anything wrong with a sacrifice like that, but for some (like me) social media is a large part of how I connect for my job. I think that is why I liked the idea of sharing through social media rather than disappearing until Easter.
To recap where I am at the moment:
- I did give up my afternoon Coke (especially from McDonald's) during Lent while working towards drinking more water.
- I will use my social media channels to blog, post, share when a daily scripture reading or something else that connects to my faith happens.
- I am setting aside time every morning for reflection and prayer which means I will have to get up earlier than usual.
For the most part, all of these center around working on me. I am still figuring out how I can lift up and support others during Lent. I am deciding how and where almsgiving will become a part of my plan. The cool thing is that this is a journey over the next 40 days!
For anyone interested in the ways I am making these things happen, click on any of the resource links below.
Give us this Day App - it contains the Mass readings for every day. You can order the book each month or pay for the app.
Gus Lloyd on Facebook and/or 60 Second Reflection - if you have satellite radio, he does the daily scripture reading around 7:50 AM on channel 129. He also does the reading on his FB page for those without satellite. What I like about his 60 second reflections are that they are super quick while allowing me to think about my faith.
Every Sacred Sunday - I have used these books the past three years. They contain prayers and Sunday Mass readings along with a place for reflection and notes. I absolutely love these books.
Blessed is She's Set a Fire Lent 2021 Devotional - I love supporting women sharing their Catholic faith. This devotional was created by women for women. (The Every Sacred Sunday book was created by women too.) Now, they only have the digital download version left. I downloaded it to my iPad and opened it in iBooks. This allows me to read it like a book while using the Mark Up tools to take notes and reflect.
Shining Light Dolls on Instagram - I just really like this account. They post adorable renditions of the saints. They do have merchandise as well.
For anyone else starting on a Lenten journey, I will keep you in my prayers as we do some "spring cleaning" of our souls through fasting, praying, and almsgiving.
