Uniting our suffering with Christ

Lent is hard. As far as liturgical seasons go, I much prefer Christmas and Easter when the waiting is over and there are cookies galore, but here we are, gazing at the crucified Lord, trying in some way to wrap our minds around that incredible sacrifice.

The questions that often come up this time of year is, “what are you doing for Lent? What are you giving up?” These questions are a great place to start, but if we stop there, the Lenten sacrifice seems more like some self-improvement New Year’s resolution. However, the origin of Lent reveals something much deeper about why we do this each year. The 40 days before Easter is a time to reflect on the Lord’s passion through spiritual preparation, conversion, and penance. It’s a time to renew our baptismal call to live as disciples of Jesus Christ.