Embrace Lent 2021

Lent is a 40 day season of prayer, fasting, and almsgiving that begins on Ash Wednesday and ends at sundown on Holy Thursday. It’s a period of preparation to celebrate the Lord’s Resurrection at Easter. During Lent, we seek the Lord in prayer by reading Sacred Scripture; we serve by giving alms; and we practice self-control through fasting. We are called not only to abstain from luxuries during Lent, but to a true inner conversion of heart as we seek to follow Christ’s will more faithfully. We recall the waters of baptism in which we were also baptized into Christ’s death, died to sin and evil, and began new life in Christ.

Many know of the tradition of abstaining from meat on Fridays during Lent, but we are also called to practice self-discipline  and fast in other ways throughout the season. In addition, the giving of alms is one way to share God’s gifts—not only through the distribution of money, but through the sharing of our time and talents. As St. John Chrysostom reminds us: “Not to enable the poor to share in our goods is to steal from them and deprive them of life. The goods we possess are not ours, but theirs.” (Catechism of the Catholic Church, no. 2446).

LENTEN FASTING & ABSTINENCE
Fasting Days: Ash Wednesday and Good Friday Ages 18-59
Abstinence Days: Every Friday during Lent Ages 14+

How do we fast?
When fasting, a person is permitted to eat one full meal, as well as two smaller meals that together do not equal to a full meal.

Am I excused from fasting and abstinence?
Those that are excused from fasting and abstinence outside the age limits include the physically or mentally ill including individuals suffering from chronic illness such as diabetes. Also excluded are pregnant or nursing women.