Lent is a great time to look back on the last few months and rethink the who, what and where of our relationship with God and the Church. Who were we then and who are we now? What did we know then and what do we know now? Where were we last Easter and where are we now? The daily Scripture readings for Lent are a great tool to help with these reflections.

Every year St. Anthony Messenger Press publishes a Catholic Update that provides daily meditations on Lenten themes as well as seasonal Scripture. Other Updates published during the season have also followed the Lenten theme. “Lent: Giving Our Hearts to God” (February 1997) is an excellent article on fasting by one of my favorite authors, Joyce Rupp. In 1998, Tom Richstatter, O.F.M., wrote about a different gift of the Spirit for Ash Wednesday and each week of Lent in “Lent: Opening the Gifts of the Holy Spirit.” (This might be nice for those preparing for Confirmation.) Last year, Michael Guinan, O.F.M., examined the biblical themes of Lent for his article, “In the Desert With Jesus.” 

This year, Richard Rohr, O.F.M., offers daily reflections in the Update titled “Letting God In.” Rohr prefaces the reflections by reminding us that when we are able to admit our own brokenness, we make it easier for God to break into our lives.

If you have small groups in your parish you may suggest some of the themes offered above for Lenten gatherings. Or you might suggest getting this year's Update. They can reflect on Rohr’s daily comments for a week or two (depending on how often they meet) and discuss what impact, if any, they had on their lives. In this way, members of the small faith community can help each other reflect on the who, what and where of the past year.

Give each family present a copy of the baptismal promises. Read each line and talk about what we are saying “yes” to when we renew our baptismal promises at Easter. Ask primary school youngsters to illustrate the various lines of the promises. Ask elementary youth to role-play the baptismal rite (with assistance from an adult).

While the children are doing the above, the adults and adolescents can have a deeper discussion about Baptism—not only about the onetime rite, but also what the sacrament means in our everyday lives.

Have paper, pencils, pens and crayons available, and ask participants to make cards for the elect who will be receiving Baptism at Easter. Suggest they mention what they particularly like about the faith or your parish. (Make sure you read through cards before you give them to the folks in the RCIA program.)

If young people are willing, they can re-create the rite for everyone else, and the younger children can hold up their illustrations as everyone renews his or her baptismal promises.

Finally, if you want to send home some other ideas for observing Lent check out Jeanne Hunt’s Holy Bells and Wonderful Smells. (Click here to see ideas.)

Have you noticed how we have a little more sunlight each day, that the daylight hours are lengthening minute by precious minute as we move through winter toward spring? We gave our daughter a basketball hoop for Christmas, and if her dad isn’t delayed in getting home, they can now spend a little time in the driveway shooting hoops before it gets too dark and cold. There is still plenty of winter ahead, but these lengthening days convince me that spring is coming and remind me that…

…light follows darkness.

A few years back, I was blindsided by a nearly debilitating depression during Lent. The depth of my sadness and the lethargy I battled were like nothing I had ever before experienced. It was a striking reminder of just how dependent I am on God for everything. When you have to pray your way out of bed in the morning, you find out what it means to be “spiritually poor.” Through it all I held on to hope for a brighter day, and knew in my heart that I was going to be a stronger person on the other side of that experience. Our pastor’s Easter homily was about light following darkness. It took me a few months to rise out of the deepest part of my depression, yet…

…light follows darkness.

In August 1975, Paula D’Arcy was a young wife and mother, pregnant with her second child. Her husband and young daughter were killed in a car accident. She survived the crash, then had to learn how to find light in her darkness. I’ve selected a clip from early in her audiobook Gift of the Red Bird: The Story of a Divine Encounter (RealMedia | Windows Media). Her powerful story continues to include parenting the daughter born after the accident, her growth as a writer and conference speaker, an illness that kept her in bed for months and which initiated a journey of spiritual renewal, and an encounter with a red bird in the Texas wilderness 14 years after the accident that helped her see all things with new eyes.

Light follows darkness.

Gift of the Red Bird is a powerful Paschal Mystery story. It will be a wonderful book for your own personal Lenten preparation and then to share with small groups in your parish. It contains reflection questions for each chapter for individual or group use. Existing small groups may choose to use it for their Lenten reflection. Groups of those who have experienced the death of a spouse/child/loved one may also find it both consoling and enlightening. It’s a truly profound and beautiful story, read by Paula herself. I guarantee that you’ll never look at a cardinal in the same way again.

Fallon takes the six Gospel readings from the Year A Lenten lectionary, as well as the Easter Gospel story from Year A, and leads us through a process he calls “personalizing the Gospels.”  This process is based on exploring three fundamental questions: What is the experience of the story?  How does this story touch me? How does this story call me to live? Using this simple process, Fallon takes us on a fascinating journey through these basic Lenten stories of temptation, transformation, loss and redemption, death and new life, using examples gleaned from his own experiences in Church ministry, the business world and family life as a husband, stepparent and grandparent.  Take a look at how he begins the process of personalizing the story of Christ’s passion and death.  At the end of each chapter he offers probing questions for discussion and concludes with a moving prayer experience. 

What Jesus Said and Why It Matters Now offers a substantial Lenten experience that would well serve an RCIA retreat, a small faith community meeting weekly, a couple looking for Lenten inspiration or an individual seeking growth and renewal during Lent.