What is Lent?
On Wednesday, February 18, 2026, the season of Lent begins. Lent signifies a forty-day period of prayer, fasting and penance in preparation for the Easter celebration and while the etymological root of the word has been lost to time, its meaning has not and the lessons and practices – though quintessentially Catholic – are meaningful and valid for all Christians.
But what precisely is Lent?
The synoptic Gospels (Matthew 4:1–11, Mark 1:12–13 and Luke 4:1–13) tell the story of how Jesus was led into the desert for forty days to be tempted by the devil, after which He began His public ministry. But why was Jesus tempted at all? Why did he have to endure it? For the same reason He did everything else.
To show us the way!
Some may ask “if we cannot earn our way to heaven, or merit our salvation through works, then what good is prayer, fasting and penance?” Like the image we see in the mirror, prayer, fasting and penance are the reflection of our faith[1]. In other words, prayer, fasting and penance should automatically flow from our desire to imitate and follow Christ. Because of this, our Lenten sufferings do not go unnoticed by God and are not without value! Think about this scenario: a young boy gets cancer, and the chemotherapy drugs cause his hair to fall out. In solidarity, the father shaves his head to show support for his son. Do the actions of the father make the drug work better? No. Do they shorten or lessen the effects of his cancer? No. But, what do you suppose the effect on the child would be? Now imagine God the Father looking down and seeing you offering your prayer, fasting and penance in solidarity with His Son. Would He see view your sufferings favorably? I believe so!
So, what can you offer during Lent? Well, for Catholics, as a minimum, you must abstain from eating meat on Fridays (i.e. fasting). You are also encouraged to attend the many prayer services offered at your local church such as adoration[2] or stations of the cross[3].
“But don’t I have to give up chocolate too?”
This is an antiquated and invalid example of a Lenten offering and if this is something you have done in the past, I would invite you to go deeper with the Lord and instead of giving up chocolate, why not do something more meaningful?
For example, how about:
- Skipping lunch one day each week?
- Going without coffee one day per week?
- Giving up your time and devote an hour a week solely to prayer?
- Taking up a devotion such as the rosary[4]?
- Volunteering an hour a week to help in a soup kitchen?
- Plan to read the Bible each day during Lent![5]
There are any number of things you can do to draw yourself closer to God.
[1] See James 2:14-26
[2] Adoration is the Catholic practice of displaying the Eucharist (who, Catholics believe is Jesus Himself) for a period of time in order to pray to and with Him.
[3] Stations of the Cross is a deep and prayerful reenactment of Jesus’ suffering and death on the cross.
[4] During one Lenten season I decided to pray the rosary every day during Lent. The habit stuck and I continue to pray it daily and that was almost 10 years ago.
[5] Did you know that the most downloaded podcast in the world is a Bible podcast? It is located HERE