Lent 2025 For those who grew up in the Church, most Christian traditions recognize Lent somehow. It is the 40 day period before Easter (not counting the Sundays) that is a time to prepare for Easter. Easter of course is the pivotal day for Christians, when we pull out all the stops to celebrate the Resurrection of our Lord! Jesus wins! Sin, death, and the devil don’t! WOOWOO!
Lent becomes a time of penitence, that is, a time of confessing the ways we fall short in God’s sight and trying to find new ways to be that baptized, beloved Child of God we are called to be. It seems we get pretty hung up on the shortfalls and failures of our life of faith, so much so we forget that EVERY Sunday is a celebration of the Resurrection! Every Sunday we hear Good News, news so good we can live it and celebrate it every day!
Sure, some of the hymns of the Season of Lent are pretty cool. Minor keys, focusing on the goodness of God through our fallen eyes, with twists to joy and grace in the last verse many times. It is an odd way to lead us into Easter, being so somber…
When I was a kid, we were supposed to “give up” something for Lent (it couldn’t be broccoli or robbing banks…). We were supposed to give up a treat like chocolate, or soda, or doing something we really liked, as a sign of our sacrifice and commitment to God. This “giving up” often went the way of New Year’s resolutions, that after a few weeks it became less important.
Nowadays, more of us talk about taking on something for Lent (not broccoli or robbing banks…), picking up a new habit or helping with a ministry or an effort for societal change. I think this is a better way to “celebrate” Lent, by taking up something new in Jesus’ name, and making it part of our being that baptized beloved Child of God we are called to be.
How about it? What are you going to take up for Lent?
