This Lent step up and do what is right – make a decision to “turn away from sin and believe in the Gospel”. Follow the way of prayer, fasting and almsgiving. Here’s a list of things you might consider doing:
- Make a commitment to read the Sunday readings before you go to Mass
- Don’t have time to read all 3? Just read the Gospel
- Make a commitment to try something new spiritually – eg Eucharistic Adoration
- Think about what you usually spend your money on – new clothes? iTunes? eating out? Pick one type of expenditure, fast from it and give the money to charity.
- Go to a weekday mass once during the week
- If you don’t have a cross in your house, buy one and put it in your room
- Read the Gospel of Mark – it’s the shortest! The cross, a traditional Lenten symbol, plays a central role.
- Attend the Stations of the Cross
- Eat fish on Fridays during Lent
- Turn off your iPod or the radio on the way to school – the silence may be hard at first, but you may become more in tune with the world around you
- Buy a book of daily reflections and keep it by your bed
- Think about a habit that has kept you from who God wants you to be. Consciously give up that habit for Lent.
- Fast from more than just food
- Fast from cruel comments about others
- Make a point of learning about a particular social issue eg: racism, AIDS, child poverty etc
- Pray for somebody – a close friend or someone who you see on the street that you think is in need
- Remind yourself of the baptismal commitment to renounce sin
- As you fall asleep at night, repeat the mantra ‘Lord Jesus, Son of the Living God, have mercy on me.’
- Read the works of mercy as Jesus describes them in Matthew 25 ‘For I was hungry . . .’
- Make a list of all the excesses in your life. Which ones could you do without?
- Attend the Sacrament of Reconciliation