Growing in Faith During the Season of Lent: “See the ‘God Moments’ of Your Day”

During the liturgical season of Lent, we are called to slow down and to take an account of our faith life.

“In Lent, we are called to take an account of our relationship with Christ and to rebuild that relationship,” says Fr. Paul Ferguson. “See the ‘God moments’ in each day and reflect on those moments in the evening. Slow down and create a time for meditation so that you will celebrate Easter with a true conversion of the heart.”

Our Lady of Hope offers us many opportunities to plan an intentional Lenten journey. This begins with a Lenten calendar that will be shared in the bulletin the weekend before Ash Wednesday.

“We’ll be sending out this calendar that highlights all the dates for Lenten liturgical services beginning with multiple Masses on Ash Wednesday, March 2,” Fr. Paul says. “There will also be Stations of the Cross every Friday, and usually these are bilingual.”

On March 5, which is the first Saturday after Ash Wednesday, the parish will offer the faith community a Lenten retreat. Throughout the season there will also be many opportunities for Confession.

During the Lenten season, prayer, almsgiving, and fasting help us deepen and rebuild our relationship with Christ in particular ways.

“Almsgiving is giving of our time, talent, and treasure in whatever ways we can,” Fr. Paul says. “Fasting is also a way for us to sacrifice. We can fast not necessarily only from food, but perhaps also from a bad habit that has kept us from Christ.”

Faith community members will also receive a book or pamphlet near Ash Wednesday with Scripture passages to help foster our prayer lives. This particular ritual is one that Fr. Paul practiced from his childhood.

“My grandmother was my Godparent, and she would always give me a Lenten book of some kind to help me pray and meditate,” Fr. Paul says. “We also did all the regular Lenten activities as a family, including going to Confession and having fish on Fridays. I remember Mom’s tuna casseroles and tuna cakes.”

One community-wide opportunity during the Lenten season is a play called One Voice - One Word: The Promise.

“The community of Washington, Ind., does this beautiful ecumenical play over a period of eight days,” Fr. Paul says. “Members from most of the Catholic and Christian parishes in our community participate, and they sing and reenact the Passion.”

This year, the play is scheduled to run March 11- 19, and it is a tradition that has been part of our community for years.

“I’ve been many times, and it is really nice,” Fr. Paul says. “They even bring in live animals! We have a lot of people from our parish who have participated in different roles. It’s one of those times when you get to see talents your parishioners have that you didn’t know about.”

There are also opportunities for us to engage in service and give back to our community during Lent. Fr. Paul hopes our parish’s meal delivery service to the homebound will resume before Lent.

“Some other possibilities include collecting food for Feed My Sheep,” he says. “Of course, you can give to the Rice Bowl, which doesn’t only impact our local community but also impacts the world. You can also volunteer at the St. Vincent de Paul store here.”

The most important thing is to remember that Lent is a time to reflect on our relationship with Christ and our intimacy with God.

“Those three things — prayer, fasting, and almsgiving — help us refocus our life and get away from the noise of the world,” Fr. Paul says. “If we participate in these, then on Easter morning, we’ll have had a renewal of our relationship with Christ.”

For more information about the Lenten season at Our Lady of Hope, please check out the bulletin and our parish website at www.ccwash.org.

Celebrating Holy Thursday, 2021

Our Lady of Hope decorated for the Easter season