Our parish Lenten theme this year is Everlasting Love.
In this season of 40 days we practice the disciplines of Prayer, Fasting, and Almsgiving to draw us ever closer to our loving God.
The suggestions below will help you bask in the arms of God, deepen your intimacy in prayer, and make the most of your Lent.
(You can find more Prayer Playlists for adults HERE.)
Here are some Scripture passages about God's everlasting love for us:
Here are the Sunday Mass readings for the month of March:
March 7, Third Sunday of Lent
March 14, Fourth Sunday of Lent
March 21, Fifth Sunday of Lent
March 28, Palm Sunday
Holy Saturday, Easter Vigil
Here are the Scripture passages we will be using at our Parish Monday evening Lenten prayer:
Here are a few blog articles to give you some inspiration this Lent:
Book suggestion: Father James Martin, SJ, Learning to Pray.
Here are a few videos to help you reflect on the meaning of Lent:
How Lent is a Time to Do a Little Life Laundry
Here's a wonderful series of 2 minute Lenten videos from the Jesuits.
You can subscribe to receive one of these videos each day of Lent HERE.
Sarah Hart, To The Desert Follow Me
Bethell, We Dance
Audrey Assad, Even Unto Death
Matt Maher, Lead Me Home
Matt Maher, Lay It Down
Steffany Gretzinger, No Fear In Love
Jadon Lavik, I Surrender All
I Have Loved You With an Everlasting Love
Here are some things to reflect on during your prayer time. They can also serve as journal prompts.
- Remember back to a time when God offered infinite mercy and kindness to you when you were most vulnerable.
- What is the deepest desire of your heart this Lent? Where might God be calling you in this season?
- Lent is sometimes described as a spring cleaning of the heart. What places in your heart need a cleaning out and a freshening up?
- What hurts, burdens, brokeness, and sin can you place in Jesus' hands this Lent?
- For what are you most grateful as you make this Lenten journey?
The SALT Project offers a beautiful Prayer to Mark One Year of the Pandemic.
Here's a version of the Stations of the Cross from the Midwest Jesuits that you can listen to in 30 minutes.
And here's another Stations of the Cross from Pray As You Go.
From Ashes to Glory by Joseph Tetlow, SJ has a brief reflection and Examen prayer for each week of Lent.
Pray As You Go is offering a weekly Lenten retreat podcast for 2021 called Growing Back Better.
God In All Things also has a weekly Lenten podcast called Purple Rain.
For a selection of meat-free recipes from around the world for your Lenten Fridays, check out this list from Catholic Relief Services (and while you are on their site, learn a little about their global ministries and make a donation if you can).
Learn how to make a Lenten spiral candle holder (sort of like an Advent wreath, but for Lent!) HERE, and learn how to pray with it HERE.
Give Up Your Mess for Lent with the 40 Bags in 40 Days Decluttering Challenge.
Growing in Friendship With God is a weekly Lenten meditation series from Ignation Spirituality.
Steadfast: A Call to Love is a daily Lenten email offered by the Ignatian Solidarity Network.
For a mid-day prayer break, try this Lunch Time Examen from Ignatian Spirituality.
Arts and Faith for Lent Visual Prayer Experience: weekly 3-minute audio/visual reflections that use artwork to explore Lenten stories.
God In All Things is offering a virtual evening of Reflection on Tues. 3/9 entitled From Ruins to Resurrection.
If you are interested in reading the entire Bible but don't know how to tackle it, Father Mike Schmitz and Ascension Press are offering daily podcasts to get you through the Bible In A Year.
(You can find more Prayer Playlists for adults HERE.)