This, of course, is not an exhaustive list of Lenten ideas. But it’s a start! Many of the resources mentioned here are available on my website at www.crossroadsinitiative.com or can be found by visiting my links page.
1. Take 30 minutes to pray, ask the Holy Spirit’s guidance, look over this list, and make a few practical Lenten resolutions. Be careful. If you try to do too much, you may not succeed in anything! If you need to get up early or stay up late to get the 30 minutes of quiet, do it. Turn off your phone and computer. Don’t put it off and don’t allow interruptions.
2. Get up earlier than anyone else in your house and spend your first 15 minutes of the day thanking God for the gift of life and offering your day to Him.
3. Get to daily Mass.
4. If you can’t do Mass daily, go to Mass on Fridays in addition to Sunday and thank Him for laying his life down for you. Maybe you can go another time or two as well.
5. Spend at least 30 minutes in Eucharistic adoration at least one time during the week.
6. Recover the Catholic tradition of making frequent visits to the Blessed Sacrament throughout the week, even if it is only for 5 minutes.
7. Get to confession at least once during Lent after making a good examination of conscience. If you are not sure why confession is important, get my CD “Who Needs Confession.”
8. In addition to the penance assigned by the priest, fulfill the conditions necessary for a plenary indulgence. You can learn about plenary indulgences from the official Handbook of Indulgences, Catholic Book Publishing Company (costs only about $13).
9. Make a decision to read at least some Scripture every day.
10. Even if you can’t get to daily Mass, get a daily Catholic Missal or go online or get Catholic One smart phone app to get a list of the readings used each day in Mass, and read these readings daily. During special seasons such as Lent, the Mass readings are thematically coordinated and make for a fantastic Bible study!
11. Pray the Liturgy of the Hours. You can buy a one volume edition or a full four volume edition. Or you can get it day by day for free using the Catholic One smart phone app or online at http://divineoffice.org/. Or you can subscribe to a monthly publication called the Magnificat that provides a few things from the Liturgy of the Hours together with the Mass readings of the day. The Magnificat is a great way to start learning the Liturgy of the Hours.
12. Get to know the Fathers of the Church and read selections from them along with Scripture. Short selections from the Fathers writing on Lenten themes can be downloaded for free from the Lenten library of my website, www.crossroadsintiative.com.
13. Make the Stations of the Cross each Friday either with a group or by yourself. If you have kids, bring them.
Read the other 27 here...
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