What do you do for Lent?

ourdomesticchurch — Sun, 22 Feb 2009 16:13:01 +0000

As we approach the Season of Lent I am trying to find ways to make it more meaningful for my family. It seems we have all these things reminding us of the Christmas Season. We also seem to have so many traditions linked with Christmas. Easter is much more important. I am going to try to make it so.

I’ve been looking up ideas for the season and I’ve also asked friends what they do as families. I thought I’d share some of these ideas.

Fat Tuesday: eat up all the sweets in the house, have King Cake, have a party, make and eat paczkies (a polish donut), each member of the family writes down something they’d like to work on during Lent and places in a special container to look again at when Easter arrives, create a Lenten paper chain with things to do to prepare for Easter

Ash Wednesday: attend Mass, receive ashes, day of fasting and abstain from meat, start lenten sacrifice, start work on relationship with God and start improving relationship with others, plant seeds that will bloom by Easter

Throughout Lent: Pray, try to get rid of things and actions that distract us from God, clear out house, sacrifice favorites such as foods and entertainments, give alms, give more time to others, focus more on God, pray the Stations of the Cross, attend Adoration, attend 1-2 more weekly masses, celebrate the Sacrament of Reconciliation, keep home plain, make and eat pretzels or hot cross buns for dessert, add Works of Mercy to your daily life

Fridays: abstain from meat

Maundy Thursday: attend Mass, share a Passover meal

Good Friday: pray the Stations of the Cross, attend services, my husbands’ family makes homemade Polish sausage and colors Easter eggs

Holy Saturday: attend the Easter Vigil, get Easter baskets filled with food for Easter and colored eggs blessed

Easter Sunday: attend Mass, decorate home with flowers and signs of spring, hide Easter eggs, hide Easter eggs, prepare and eat a full beautiful Easter morning brunch or dinner using food blessed on Saturday, Lamb cake, Lamb butter

These are just a couple of things I have come across or we already do. I think the whole point is to clear our lives of distractions from God. Does anyone else have ideas on how to make the Reason for the Lenten Season Jesus? Please share.

First Reconciliation

ourdomesticchurch — Fri, 30 Jan 2009 19:03:19 +0000

My youngest son will celebrate his First Reconciliation this evening. Celebrate my seem like the wrong word when I think about the fact that we share our sins with the priest and God. But celebrate is the word to use. I like this definition from the Faith and Life Series by Ignatius Press: “The act of re-establishing friendship between two or more persons…” Who wouldn’t want to do this? It’s also healthy to admit our mistakes, our sins, and seek to make up for them. The Sacrament of Reconciliation is one of the sacraments of healing. We can start of heal the relationship with God we hurt through sin. This sacrament is the perfect chance to start with a clean slate and become the person we know we should be. I’m trying to teach my children to look forward to Reconciliation. Seek it out on their own. Celebrate it.

Check out the following websites. They will tell you all you need to know about the Sacrament of Reconciliation.

http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/11618c.htm

http://www.americancatholic.org/features/sacraments/reconciliation.asp

Our Domestic Church » sacraments

What do you do for Lent?

First Reconciliation