Reflecting on the Pre-Lent Season

People often don’t look forward to Lent. Childhood memories of giving up candy or sitting through weekly Stations of the Cross come immediately to mind. Words like “sacrifice”, “discipline” and “self-denial” are often used in ways that suggest that Lent is something to be endured rather than a time of grace and spiritual growth. Have you ever thought of Lent as a yearly second chance? Each year the Church gives us six weeks to take a long, loving look at our lives to see if our values and priorities are in line with God’s desires for us. Since most of us find that we’ve wandered from God’s path, Lent becomes that second chance, or do-over, to “return to God with our whole heart”.

The three Sundays before Lent are called Septuagesima, Sexagesima and Quinquagesima. The Latin names for theses Sundays signify that they are the seventieth, sixtieth and fiftieth days (approximately) before Easter.

The Pre-Lent season is a time of preparation for the great fast of Lent. The epistles and Gospels appointed for these three Sundays encourage us to reflect upon virtues that are necessary for holiness of life.

Let us, therefore, begin the Pre-Lenten season with minds open to learn about the virtues, that we may be fervent in prayer for them and for blessedness during our Lenten fast. As we journey through this annual second chance, remember that each step brings you closer to the welcoming arms of our loving God.