Spring!

I know, there is still about a month until the beginning of the season Spring on our calendar. But today is the beginning of Spring in the Catholic Church.
Lent comes from the Anglo-saxon word lencten, meaning Spring (from Modern Catholic Dictionary).

According to the Catechism of the Catholic Church this is why Lent is important:

Jesus' temptation reveals the way in which the Son of God is Messiah, contrary to the way Satan proposes to him and the way men wish to attribute to him.244 This is why Christ vanquished the Tempter for us: "For we have not a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tested as we are, yet without sinning."245 By the solemn forty days of Lent the Church unites herself each year to the mystery of Jesus in the desert.

What does Lent mean to me? Advent is a time of preparation - of making ready our hearts for the coming of the King. I suppose Lent is also about preparation but in a more solemn way. It is more about refocusing on the only thing that is truly important. It is about learning to be vigilant and learning to live in the presence of Christ.

I won't share with you my lenten sacrifice. I rather like keeping that between myself and God. But I will tell you that as I work on drawing closer to Him I will be praying for my family and friends that your own Lenten journey will be fruitful and restorative.