A Guide to Lent: for OCIA Candidates and Adult Formation

This is a guide to help you to best understand and benefit from this powerful season as it relates to each and every one of our personal and ongoing conversions towards knowing, loving and serving God.

What this Lent Guide Provides

• A full understanding of the purpose and function of the Lenten Season
• A clear explanation for WHY the Church changed some of Her disciplines(e.g. In the past, the faithful were required to fast from meat every Friday of the year)
• A clear understanding of WHY it is a sin-a departure from God’s perfect will for our lives- to not abide by the disciplines the Church sets forth at any given point in time
• The answer to WHY the Church changing a discipline does not mean doctrines can change. (e.g. Many Catholics confuse the fact that since at one time it was a sin to eat mean any Friday of the year and now it’s not, then the Church’s teachings on life issues, human sexuality, etc. can also change.)
• Practical Points

Lent Begins with Ash Wednesday

Be sure to read this post for an Ash Wednesday guide.

Ways to Grow and Transform Ourself During Lent

We should strive to do as much of the following as possible to grow and to transform our lives and our souls during this time:

Sacrifice

We are called to sacrifice in different ways during Lent. In sacrifice we become stronger. Our hearts become more open and we begin to understand more and more what God wants from us. We participate in sacrifice individually and also, as One Body in Christ.

Collective Sacrifice:

The Church establishes certain disciplines, as we spoke about above, that it requires that we do as One Body in Christ across the world. There is a most effective transforming power in our joint sacrifice.

The Church Magisterium, who bears the responsibility of helping us, as One Body, most effectively respond to Christ’s call to “become perfect as our Father in Heaven is perfect,” determines the guidelines that we are obliged to follow that will best ensure that we can reasonably accomplish this as One. Deliberately and knowingly not responding to this obligation, detracts from the power of the joint sacrifice. This is why it is sinful. It diminishes the goal of the total sacrifice.

Clearing Up Confusion on Doctrine and Discipline

There is much confusion among Catholics today in this area that needs to be cleared up. You will often hear people say that “It was once a sin to eat meat on ALL Fridays. Now it is only a sin if you eat meat on Fridays during Lent. How can the Church just change things like that? Why should I listen to the Church on anything, for that matter, if it can change at any time. If they changed this, then someday there might be a change in other teachings (eg human life, human sexuality, etc.)”

Let’s sort out the confusion and understand what’s going on here.

There is a distinction between doctrine and discipline. Discipline can change. Doctrine cannot change. Here is the difference.

Doctrine is official Church teaching on matters of Faith and Morals, transmitted and entrusted to Her by Jesus Christ. There has been no change in these matters since Christ revealed the Truth. Truth does not and cannot change. The Church does not have the authority to change the Truth. A reminder that the Commandments (and all that Christ’s teaches us through the Church He founded) are the ultimate safeguards against emptiness, unhappiness, and living a life in chains because you could not see the pitfalls coming! Only God can define and safeguard love.

In the years since Vatican II, confusion on the matter of unchanging Truth abounds particularly in the American Church. There are, at times(unfortunately) well -meaning but misguided priests, sisters and theologians who have taught, in the name of the Church, that ‘the Church now recognizes the “primacy of conscience” in these matters.’ This is serious and grave error.

While our God is merciful in our struggles and circumstances, He ultimately calls us to the best of everything for our sake.

Conscience must be formed to the Truth

An unformed conscience is no help in these matters at all. An unformed conscience, even one we think is formed to Truth, can be seriously wrong. If you want to know what the Church teaches for sure, check the official Catechism of the Catholic Church which contains all of Her teachings and is a resource that every Catholic household should not be without. Go to a priest who is faithful to that teaching and get clarification to be sure. When you have challenges living in accordance with the Truth, once you’ve determined what it is, take advantage of the assistance of a good Spiritual Director to sort out your situation and help you.

What is Discipline?

Discipline refers to practices established by the Church to assist us in responding to the call to live according to the Gospel. Jesus calls us to fast and to sacrifice and teaches us the purpose and power behind these disciplines. He speaks of the value of individual and private sacrifice that only our Father sees in secret. He also speaks of the power of “two or three gathered in my name.”

Both types of prayer and sacrifice have distinct purpose and value. He does not set up exact guidelines on all the ways to approach this valuable discipline. He entrusts this matter of guidance to His Church. The Church guides us individually. She also guides us as a whole.

Discipline can change according to times and culture. Practical considerations may make it more effective to collectively approach sacrifice/fasting one way at one time and another at another point in time.

So the change in when we, together, as One Body in Christ, sacrifice eating meat is simply a change in discipline or approach. It is not a change in Truth. It is not eating meat itself that is a sin on Friday’s during Lent. The sin is disobedience to the collective discipline established by the Church that Jesus entrusted in these matters to respond to His call. Consider helping another Catholic understand this difference during this Lent!

Personal and Private Sacrifice

Additionally, it is suggested that we sacrifice something personally each day of Lent.

Giving Up a Dessert or Other Personal Pleasure

A common sacrifice choice is denying ourselves dessert, some other food or pleasure we are used to having on a daily basis. This discipline not only strengthens us internally. Each time we crave that which we have given up,
our attention recalls that we are doing it to perfect ourselves as Christ called us to do. It focuses our attention in His direction as we “suffer for the thing we are craving in that moment.”

Giving Up Undesirable Traits or Habits

The greatest personal sacrifice we can make during Lent is giving up undesirable traits or habits. It we are struggling in the area of mortal sin, we need to make an accelerated effort to overcome ourselves in this area.

Sacrificing Our Time

We can also sacrifice our time by doing something extra that will help us or someone else grow in Christ. These are some suggestions for consideration:

• Go to one extra Mass a week
• read Scripture (or another good Catholic resource) fifteen minutes each day
• help someone in need
• force yourself to do something that is unpleasant to you that you have been chronically procrastinating, etc.

There are many ways that you can grow and change!!