Lent is the 40 days (not including Sundays) from Ash Wednesday to the Saturday before Easter. Lent is often described as a time of preparation and an opportunity to go deeper with God. This means that it’s a time for personal reflection that prepares people’s hearts and minds for Good Friday and Resurrection Day celebrations.
Today, February 22, 2023, Ash Wednesday, is the first day of Lent. You may notice people with a smudged, black cross on their foreheads. Those are ashes from the Ash Wednesday service . . . many times ashes from burned palm branches from the previous Resurrection Day services. The ashes symbolize our grief for the things we’ve done wrong and the resulting division of imperfect people from a perfect God.
The three main things people focus on during Lent are prayer, fasting (abstaining from something to reduce distractions and focus more on God) and giving, or charity. Spending time during Lent praying, fasting and giving can make Jesus’ sacrifice on Good Friday and His resurrection on Easter even more meaningful. (https://www.cru.org/us/en/train-and-grow/life-and-relationships/holidays/lent/what-is-lent-about-and-why-is-it-important.html) While none of these practices can will make us any closer to earning or deserving Jesus' sacrifice on the cross, it can allow us and others to appreciate what He has done and to offer ourselves for His use and for others' needs.
I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God. (Romans 12:1-2)
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