Finishing Lent with Intention

How is your Lent going?  Great?  Fantastic?  The best one yet?  Good for you!!!! 

Or are you a little lack luster?  If you haven’t been as serious about Lent as you had hoped, here is a printable to help you through the last two weeks and make a strong and intentional finish.  Download your free Lenten Checklist PDF.

 

What are you fasting from?  If you haven’t made a daily decision to give up something for Lent now is the ideal time to focus on fasting and focus on Christ and the sacrifice He made for you and me. 

What does your home look like?  Do you know that the saying “Cleanliness is Godliness” is true?  I haven’t quite gotten my 40 bags in 40 days so I will be working strongly towards getting our home simplified and thoroughly cleaned during these last two weeks!

How does your home reflect the season of Lent?  Do you have simple decorations that remind your family members and guests of this sacred season we are in?

I’m planning on making a dining room center piece like this.

And hanging a front door wreath similar to this.

Are you mindfully making time for daily prayer?  On the printable you will find that I made a daily check off to help keep track of your prayers over these last two weeks of Lent.

Have you been taking time for a spiritual study?  This book is in my Amazon cart and comes highly recommended from some of my most respected Catholic friends.

Have you watched The Passion of the Christ?  I cannot believe that I have never watched it and am looking forward to viewing it this year.

Who are you giving to?  Have you been using a rice bowl?  Or collecting a food donation for your parish’s food pantry?

When are your parish’s stations of the cross?  Make a point to invite a friend to experience Christ’s Passion with you.

Have you been to confession?  Give yourself the gift of a clean soul for this most Holy time of the year.

When are the Holy Week Services? Mark your calendar now for the Holy Week Services on Palm Sunday, Maundy Thursday, Good Friday and either the Easter Vigil or Easter Sunday services.

Allow your children to experience Holy Week.  Last year I blogged about how we played our way through Holy Week and although I’m not sure I am up to getting everything out for that set up with everything else going on in our lives right now I somehow have a feeling that our older two children will take care of that for me.  We have been doing our perennial favorite Lenten Countdown and if you haven’t printed one out for your children yet it’s not too late!  The last week is most certainly the most exciting!

May God Bless each of you during this last Lenten stretch!  I know that by making intentional strides towards finishing Lent strong we will be immeasurably blessed. 

“Lent is like a long ‘retreat’ during which we can turn back into ourselves and listen to the voice of God, in order to defeat the temptations of the Evil One. It is a period of spiritual ‘combat’ which we must experience alongside Jesus, not with pride and presumption, but using the arms of faith: prayer, listening to the word of God and penance. In this way we will be able to celebrate Easter in truth, ready to renew the promises of our Baptism.” — Pope Benedict XVI

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