Halfway through Lent

Recently I read an article written by Fr. Michael Himes of Boston College.  Himes submitted this particular article, the first in a series written for Lent, on Ash Wednesday.  Looking ahead to Easter Himes considered the goals he hoped to attain by the time Easter arrived.  He conveyed in his article that the season of Lent lived well should, among other things, prepare us to renew our Baptismal promises on Easter with integrity.  Himes admits that it takes him 40 days of prayer, fasting and sacrifice to be able to respond “I do” with complete honesty to the questions put to the Baptized at the Easter Liturgy.

Since in a few days we will have reached the halfway point in this season of Lent, it might be a good time for us to recall the promises we will be asked to renew at Easter.  How’s it going?  Are you on the right track?  Is it time to add something else to your practices of Lent?  Perhaps you have been faithful to the sacrifice (something you gave up) you committed to at the start. Do you need to consider adding more prayer, some adoration time, the Stations of the Cross or spiritual reading to your preparation?  Take some time, if you will, to reflect in prayer and ask yourself if your practices and disciplines this Lent are getting you ready for Easter when Father will say:

Now that we have completed our Lenten observance, let us renew the promises we made in baptism, when we rejected Satan and his works and promised to serve God faithfully in his holy catholic Church.  Do you reject sin so as to live in the freedom of God’s children?  Do you reject the glamor of evil, and refuse to be mastered by sin?  So you reject Satan, father of sin and prince of darkness?

Paula Raposo, Adult Faith Formation