I wish we had more traditions in my faith. This year, I’m interested in doing something for Lent. You may wonder why, since I’m a Mormon.
I have a Catholic friend who is very sweet and we have often prayed for each other — knowing instinctively when one of us needed extra prayers. We used to be neighbors, but I have since moved. Yet, I always felt that God was keeping us neighbors for a certain time and reason.
God answers her prayers, just as He does mine. People of different religions can share their faith in God, and experience miraculous events at His hands.
I stumbled across this blog written by a Catholic and read about the practice of Lent. To tell you the truth, I don’t know that much about it. The first time I saw someone with ashes on his forehead, I wanted to let him know that he had some dirt on his face — I didn’t know that it was a sign of Ash Wednesday. I might of even said, “ahh, you have a little black smudge on your forehead…”
I would love it if the whole body of Mormons joined other faiths in observing the 40 days before Christ’s resurrection. Too often, Easter sneeks up on me, and then it becomes almost like any other Sunday — renewing my covenants by taking the Lord’s sacrament. I like the idea of making it into a longer focus of appreciating my savior’s atonement.
So, what should I do to observe this tradition of Lent?
There’s lots to choose from that fits into the symbolism of the 40 day fast. First of all, the 40 days of Lent run from Ash Wednesday to Easter Sunday, not counting Sundays. This is because Sunday is the Lord’s day and a feast day. So no fasting on Sunday, but instead a joyous feast day. Catholics “fast”on Ash Wednesday and Good Friday — which usually isn’t a hard-core fast, but one which excludes meat from “warm-blooded” animals — hence the Friday fish fry. Some Catholics will only have a small meal, or one meal and two small snacks.
The 40 day Lent is about “fasting” and “giving alms.” I quote here a Catholics seminarian:
“The meaning of these terms is stretched for us: fasting is stretched to refer to giving up something pleasurable and good–could be TV, internet web sites, Facebook, a food or drink, etc. Giving alms is stretched to mean doing something good that one normally does not do or finds difficult–could be getting out of bed and saying a prayer as soon as the alarm goes off in the morning, praying in some specific way for others’ intentions, or doing an act of charity for someone, especially someone for whom you wouldn’t naturally be inclined to do it!”
Some fast on Good Friday — the day that Christ was crucified — and do not partake of food until the Sabbath morning, marking the day our Savior’s rising from the dead. I understand that. When my dad died, I was too sad to eat. Or if I know someone close to me is suffering, I cannot think about eating. It is the last thing on my mind.
If I were to truly focus on that day — that day that Christ gave up His life for me, and imagine being at the foot of his cross — I would not be able to eat. But upon his rising from the dead on the Sabbath, it would be a great day of joy. Maybe that kind of fasting would bring me closer to my Savior.
Anything we prepare for becomes a bigger and better event. We should join with faithful Catholics and Christians who want to put Christ more in the forefront of their lives by practicing Lent. It makes Easter a much bigger holiday.
I am giving up meat. And then on Good Friday, maybe I will eat those yummy hot cross buns in the morning, and then around 3:00 pm, the approximate time of the Lord’s death, I will begin a fast that goes until sunrise Sunday morning. Now about the alms — I shall ask God in prayer to show me who I can help each day.
