Growing up in a Catholic family, Lent was not particularly my favorite time of year. The idea of giving up something that I like was rather harsh in my eyes. But as I’ve grown up, the true meaning of Lent has started to become more apparent to me. Jesus sacrificed his entire life for the sins of every person, for you and for me, yet I can’t go 40 days without giving up ONE thing?
As I continue to grow in my faith and as I prepare for the season of Lent, I will take more time to think of the significance of sacrifice. Most people, including me, ask the question, “What should I give up during Lent?” The thing is, we don’t have to give something up for Lent if we don’t want to, though there is a lot of merit in that. There are so many other things that we can do during Lent, like saying an extra prayer every day, praying for a specific issue every day, or even starting a new, good habit. For example, this Lent, I’ll be saying an extra prayer for a deeper respect for the value of human life.
So if you are not keen on the idea of giving something up for Lent, there are many other ways to sacrifice during Lent, the season of sacrifice when we begin to unite ourselves more concretely to Christ on the Cross.
By: Daniel Gardella
