The Spiritual Meaning of Lent

The Spiritual Meaning of Lent There is a definite structure to Lent. It is not merely a calendar structure. It is a spiritual structure! The more we can appreciate this fact, the more we can enter into the fullness of this holy season. Lent means many things to Christians. We use words to describe this season, like fasting and penance. Lent is associated with certain devotions, including the Stations of the Cross. All of this is good and helpful! However, sometimes we wonder how this all fits together! What is the relationship to the Ashes on Ash Wednesday to the Stations of the Cross? What is the relationship between ashes and fasting? How does fasting connect us to the Stations of the Cross? What we want to do is back up a little bit and look at the Lenten Season as a whole. Sometimes Christians get caught up in the details that we miss the overall framework in which they are set that gives them meaning. Lent is forty days, hence the song. But that is true and not true at once. If you take out the Sundays, there is forty days of Lent. But we refer to these Sundays as Sundays of Lent. Therefore, the Lenten Season has actually more than forty days. Informative, but what is its significance? Lent contains multiple periods. It begins with the introductory period, then the longer period determined by the Sundays. The introductory period begins on Ash Wednesday and includes the next three days. Then the Lenten Season shifts as we celebrate the first Sunday. Hear more within the Homily and why understanding these periods are important to us! The beginning of Lent is connected to the end of the Lenten Season . . . Easter Sunday. We must not ever forget that! Hear more as to what that really means. Lent exists to prepare us for the celebration of Easter! How spiritually does it do that? Listen to this special Meditation Media given as a conference on the first Friday of Lent. Listen to: The Spiritual Meaning of Lent ------------------------------------------------- Image: The Taking of Christ: Italian Painter: Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio.: 1602 Each Friday, a special Mediation . . . a special conference will be held throughout the Lenten Season. Look also for the next meditation installment.