Churches Article for Harborough Mail: Practicing Lent
Churches Article for Harborough Mail, week beginning March 3rd 2025: This week marks the start of Lent, an ancient Christian tradition dating back hundreds of years. Traditionally it has been a time of fasting, prayer, giving, and personal reflection during the 40 days before Maundy Thursday. We do this to remember Jesus fasting in the desert for 40 days, at the beginning of his public ministry.
During this time he experienced hunger, loneliness, temptation. In our small way, we experience all of these things when we fast or give up something during this period. The fasting helps us to connect with God.
Anyone can practice Lent – many people give things they particularly like and don’t want to live without: chocolate, alcohol, and more recently social media. In our house, my husband gives up chocolate, my son baulks with horror at the thought of giving up chocolate. I’ve decided to give up social media. Why do we do this? Part of it is an act of devotion, and when it gets hard we channel the frustration and longings into prayer and personal reflections. In my case, I can see that social media can have a negative hold on my life – I spend a lot of time doom scrolling, which makes me anxious and pessimistic.
So there is also something about wanting to embrace something as well – hopefully giving up Facebook and Instagram will give me a sense of freedom and more vitality, so there will undoubtedly be positive aspects too.
It’s also worth remembering that our Muslim friends will have already started Ramadan this month, where faithful people abstain from eating and drinking from dawn to dusk. I have always been in awe of such devotion – as Christians I think we have got off lightly, as practicing Lent has become something very individual, which each person interprets in their own way.
Whether we are religious or not, it is always worth taking an extended time of giving something up or taking on something new. There are many creative ways of practicing Lent. Some people choose to do a “random act of kindness” every day, write a letter to a friend, take up some volunteering or keep a gratitude journal. Whatever you decide to do, I invite you to use this time to think about your life, your values, and seek to connect with God and those around you. You never know what might happen or what benefits it might have for you and your loved ones!