Dear friends,

Once again, the season of Lent is upon us. The first Wednesday of this month is Ash Wednesday, the beginning of Lent. On Ash Wednesday, we receive ashes on our forehead. Ashes are an ancient symbol of repentance (sackcloth and ashes). They also remind us of our mortality: "Remember that you are dust and to dust you shall return". This means that in the beginning, God formed us out of the dust from the soil, then, when we’re at the end of our life, we die, our body will be put back into the earth and will return to dust. Then, the day shall come when we will stand before God and be judged. In order to prepare well for the day we die, we must die now to sin and rise to new life in Christ. Being marked with ashes at the beginning of Lent symbolizes our need for a deeper conversion in our lives. The ash also reminds us that without God, we are nothing. It is God who breathed life into us and who gave each of us our worth. As Catholic Christians, we observed Ash Wednesday and Good Friday by fasting and abstaining from meat. We also abstain from meat every Friday during Lent. For those who are not too sure of this Lenten practice, here is a brief review of the things we do during Lent:

Fasting - only eat 1 full meal and 2 lighter meals (the 2 light meals when combine, should be less than the one full meal). I know that for many people, including myself, this is not an easy task. We live in a society where food is so abundant and so readily made available that it becomes truly a struggle each time we have to refrain from our cravings of food. It’s a hard thing to do, but we each can accomplish it, if we do it for the right reasons.

1) We follow Jesus’ example. Jesus fasted for 40 days in the desert to prepare himself spiritually before he began his public ministry. The Bible said he was tempted by the devil 3 times, but he did not give in to temptations. As followers of Christ, we too need to prepare ourselves to live a Christian life. We will be tempted to fall into sins, especially during this Lenten season, but if we ask Jesus to walk with us through our own desert (our struggle and hardship), he will give us His strength to overcome any temptations.

2) Fasting is more than a means to practice self-control. Fasting can help us in prayer. As we fast, our body feels more hungry and more deprived of food. This physical hunger can remind us of how much our soul hungers for God and how much our spirit is deprived of spiritual nourishment. When was the last time you gave your soul any kind of nourishment? This should be one of your top priorities because your spiritual well-being will affect how happy you are in your life. In the same way that our body needs food to grow, our spirit needs spiritual nourishment. Here’s a mental picture of what your spirit would be like if it’s malnourished: Think about the movie "The Little Mermaid". Remember powerful King Triton, strong, wise and handsome king of the "mer people" and the father of the little mermaid, Ariel. When the Sea Witch took the king’s scepter, she took away all his power and "life force" from him. Immediately, the once strong, handsome and powerful king shriveled up into a wrinkled, tiny, sickly creature that resembles a dried, ugly old prune. That image is equivalent to a soul so malnourished and deprived of God, who is our sole Life Source. We look at ourselves in the mirror every day. We brush and gel our hair, we do make-ups, and spend lots of time trying to make our physical appearance look good; but have we ever wonder how pretty or. ugly is the condition of our spirits at this time? It’s not too late to take notice and start taking better care of the soul. Healthy spiritual food includes anything that help us be more holy, more Christ-like and.more in love with God! Spiritual nourishments can be found in attending Holy Mass, receiving the Eucharist, going to confession, reading and reflecting on God’s Words in the Bible, praying with the Rosary, daily prayers, reading inspirational stories about the Saints & holy people, doing acts of love and kindness toward others for the love of God, etc.

3) Fasting should also help us sympathize with those who are poor and hungry in the world, those who suffer from any injustices and those who are in need. By our Baptism, we are given the responsibility of showing Christ's love to the world, especially to those in need. Fasting can help us realize the suffering of so many people in our, and it should lead us to try our best to improve the human condition. According to the prophet Isaiah, fasting without changing our behavior is not pleasing to God. He said: "This, rather, is the fasting that I wish: releasing those bound unjustly, untying the thongs of the yoke; setting free the oppressed, breaking every yoke; sharing your bread with the hungry, sheltering the oppressed and the homeless; clothing the naked when you see them, and not turning your back on your own" (Is 58:6-7). In other words, fasting is a lot more than just eating less, it’s a loving attitude of humility, caring, sharing and being one with the Lord and with those in need.

Abstinence - Abstain / refrain from eating meat (eating eggs and fish / seafood is allowed). Abstaining from meat helps us to become one with the poor, who could rarely afford meat for their meals. It is important that we look beyond the rule and see the heart of it. We abstain from meat as a spiritual gesture of solidarity to those whose daily meals are sparse and simple. That should be the goal we set for ourselves—a sparse and simple meal. For those who try to avoid eating meat by eating lobster, crab or any other fancy seafood, they have already missed the whole point!

Sacrifice & giving up something - in order to respond to God’s call to conversion, the church invites each of us to think of giving up something that are particularly meaningful for us at the present stage of our life. One of the most common example is to give up sweets / chocolate, soda, etc.This is a good start, but this year, I challenge you to look deeper into yourself and think of a bad habit that you’ve grown attached to and would like God to help you break it. Here are some examples: Gossiping, complaining, making a mess in your room, being jealous with your sibling, or a classmate, spending too much time on the Internet, especially on "inappropriate" web sites, cursing, disrespecting your parents, cheating in class, etc. I know these habits are not easy to break, but they are not impossible, not if God is on your side (if you let him)!

Sacrament of Reconciliation - to reconcile / make peace with God. When we sin, we offend God who is all good and perfect. Sin breaks up our relationship with God, it causes us to drift away from God. Sin prevents us from receiving fullness of grace. When we repent of your sins, we go to confession, we receive God’s total forgiveness. The Sacrament of Reconciliation is a powerful weapon to fight against sins & temptations. It helps us make peace with God and be in a state of grace with God again. It is also a means for God to re-affirm with us how much He loves us and that no matter how dirty or sinful we were, He still loves us. God wishes to forgive us and He wants us to be happy living our life to the fullest.

During Lent, we are also called to be more generous with almsgiving (to give money, food, clothing, etc.to the poor / needy), to do acts of kindness, charity works and help those in need. Another popular devotion is the Stations of the Cross where we meditate and reflect on the suffering and passion of Jesus. The purpose of the stations is to help us see the horrible consequences of our sins and the greatness of God’s love for us to the point of his death on the cross.

Dear friends, these are just a few basic practices that we Catholic do during Lent, please take the time to think about what you would like to do to be a better person during this Lent season. You see, seasons come and go, for those who just "drifting by" each day, not caring much about anything, they would have missed out on so many great opportunities for personal growth and fulfillments. On the other hand, for those who have a zeal for life, they will seize every opportunity that comes by to improve themselves and strive toward perfection. In doing so, their lives will truly be enriched and they will be satisfied. Lent is one of those precious opportunities, seize it my friends, and let us grow in holiness together!

Until next time, peace and love in Christ,

03 St. Katherine Drexel, Virgin

04 St. Casimir

05 Ash Wednesday (Fast & Abstinence)

07 Sts. Perpetua and Felicity, Martyrs

Day of Abstinence

08 St. John of God, Religious

15 St. Clemente Hofbauer, C.Ss.R, Priest

17 St. Patrick, Bishop

18 St. Cyril of Jerusalem, Bishop & Doctor

19 St. Joseph, (Solemn)

25 Annunciation of the Lord, (Solemn)