Lent is a forty-day season of preparation for the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. The season of Lent in the springtime is the life giving season. As trees shed their old leaves so too this season invites us to shed the old ways and means to live a life full of newness. Lent is a journey of every Christian in his or her following of Jesus- a call to share in the suffering love of Jesus, especially by giving up sin and sinful attitudes and walking in the path of love and service.

The season begins with Ash Wednesday, when priest mark the foreheads of Christians with ashes as a reminder that we are created from dust and to dust we shall return. During Lent we follow Jesus from his adult ministry through his suffering during Holy Week and his crucifixion and death on Good Friday and glorious resurrection on Easter night. Lent is a season of soul-searching and repentance.

It is a season for reflection and taking stock. Lent originated in the very earliest days of the Church as a preparatory time for Easter, when the faithful rededicated themselves. By observing the forty days of Lent, the individual Christian imitates Jesus' withdrawal into the wilderness for forty days. Many Northern Europeans celebrate the day before Ash Wednesday as mardi gras (French for Fat Tuesday, also called Shrove Tuesday). This celebration has expanded into all sorts of festivals all over the world.

In the English language, Lent was formerly referred to by the Latin term quadragesima (translation of the original Greek tessarakoste, the `fortieth day' before Easter). This nomenclature is preserved in Romance, Salvic, and Celtic languages (for example, Spanish: cuaresma, Portuguese: quaresma, French: careme, Italian: quaresima, Croatian: korizma, Irish: carghas, and Welsh: c(a)rawys). In the late middle ages, as sermons began to be given in the vernacular instead of Latin, the English word lent was adopted.

This word simply meant spring and derives from the Germanic root for spring (specifically Old English lencten Anglo-Saxon name for March- lenct- as the main part of Lent, before Easter, usually occurred in March). In modern Dutch, the word for spring is still lente, while forty day fasting period is called vasten. The use of this particular term to describe the period at this point is unique to English. The number forty has many biblical references: the forty days Moses spent on Mount Sinai with God (Exodus 24:18); the forty days and forty nights Elijah spent walking to Mount Horeb (1 Kings 19:8); God made it rain for forty days and forty nights in the days of Noah (Genesis7:4); the Hebrew people wandered forty years traveling to the Promised Land- Cannan (Numbers 14:33); Jonah in his prophecy of judgment gave the city of Nineveh forty days time in which to repent (Jonah 3:4). Jesus retreated into the desert where he fasted for forty days and nights, and was tempted by the devil. Jesus overcame all three of Satan's temptations by citing scripture to the devil, at which point the devil left him, angels ministered to Jesus, and he began his ministry. Jesus further said that his disciples should fast `when the bridegroom shall be taken from them (Mt.9:15) a reference to his passion. The Apostles fasted as they mourned the death of Jesus, Christians too traditionally fast during the annual commemoration of his burial. It is the traditional belief that Jesus lay for 40 hours in the tomb which led to the forty hours of total fast that preceded the Easter celebrations in the early Church. Lent is a time of stripping down to essentials, as each Christian focuses on his or her individual relationship with God. It is a time when Christians remember our baptisms, when Jesus washed away our sins, giving us newness of life. Lent is a time of letting go of sins; it is also a time of celebrating the freedom from the bondage of slavery. The focus of Lent was always threefold: 1) It was a time to prepare new converts for baptism through intensive classes and instruction, 2) It was a time for long-standing Christians to review their lives and renew their commitment to Jesus Christ, and 3) It was a time for backsliders to be restored to the faith. In every case, it is a time for serious, disciplined self-examination, a time spent in intensive prayer and repentance before the cross of Calvary. To represent the dark and serious business of Lent, one custom has been to strip the sanctuary of the churches of all flowers, candles, and colors during Lent. The color of Lent is purple. This custom helps us to turn inward and examine ourselves, even as it reminds us of the dark and colorless day when Jesus lay dead in the tomb to rise in glory on Easter Sunday. Lent is a time to examine ourselves carefully. Here are some questions upon which we might pray and meditate during Lent: Am I sharing gladly what I have with others, especially the stranger and the poor? Do I have a gracious and patient attitude with others, especially those who irritate me? Do I feel the power of connection to God and the church in community worship? How is my devotional and prayer life progressing? Am I listening to God more and complaining less? Is it time for a change or a growth in my Bible study and prayer life? Am I as thoughtful and forgiving of family as others, or do I take my frustrations out on them? Do I speak up for the maligned and oppressed, or do I remain silent in order to remain popular? Here are some common Lenten practices by which we can draw closer to God, experience interior conversion and renew our spiritual lives. They are: 1) Ashes (reminding us that we won't live forever), 2) Fasting (giving something up in the sense our bad habits or desires and sacrificing food to imitate Jesus forty days fast in the desert), 3) Changing behaviors and attitudes (giving it up will make a significant and positive difference in our spiritual lives as well as in those of others), 4) Almsgiving (trying to give some percentage of our income for the sake of those without anything), 5) Penance ( time for examination of our conscience, confessions and reconciliation with our brothers and sisters), 6) Prayer and Contemplation (giving more time to prayer during Lent and searching Gods will for us and finally to ponder what is important in the long run i.e. ones salvation [eternal life with God]), 7) Stations of the Cross (praying and pondering the Stations of the Cross either privately or publicly can be a way of remembering Jesus sufferings and a way to grow in appreciation of his sacrifice), 8) Love ( following the greatest commandment given by Jesus to love one another as we love ourselves),

These forty days reminds us to correct ourselves not just by fast, penance, almsgiving, and following some of the extrinsic self sacrifices, but by observing intrinsic self denial to the urges of our desires which make us fall short. Let this season of Lent bring better understanding in us to change ourselves to transform our lives forever!