With the occurrence of Ash Wednesday on February 14th, we have come to a new season of Lent in the Catholic Church. While this is a perfect time to cut away bad habits and embark on a new self improvement kick, Lent is so much more. We aren’t simply meant to deprive ourselves of a few of our preferred vices temporarily but rather to allow God to fill those empty places left behind. In these 40 days we are to prayerfully seek Him just as Christ did in the desert through our fasting and almsgiving. 

Here are the lenten offerings which my husband and I have settled on this season and which we hope will bring us closer to Christ. 

• We will avoid sweets on Monday, Wednesday and Friday and avoid chocolate throughout the entire 40 days of Lent. On the whole, my husband and I already work to maintain healthy eating habits and usually only enjoy a small sugar wafer after dinner for dessert. We also already avoid chocolate except on the weekends as a small sacrificial offering throughout the year. However, during Lent we hope to extend these offerings further and keep the new practices formed during this lenten season. 
• With the exception of religious lectures and homilies, we will both forego time spent scrolling for funny or interesting videos on Youtube. This is an unnecessary time suck for us and we look forward to filling that time with new prayers in addition to our current daily rosary, evening prayers and an episode of the Bible in a Year podcast by Fr. Mike Schmitz.
• Instead of Youtube, we will say a scriptural rosary and a divine mercy chaplet at least once a week. The scriptural rosary is a beautiful and in depth meditation on the mysteries of the rosaries as they follow the miracles and happenings which occurred throughout Christ’s life, from His conception to the death and assumption of His blessed mother. My husband also taught me the divine mercy chaplet while we were still courting, but due to busy schedules we fell away from saying it everyday. Although we still may not always be able to say it as often as we’d like, I hope to revive this particular devotion during Lent. 
• We will orchestrate our parish Tuesday night lenten soup dinners and Vespers services. This was a tradition begun at my home parish by a former associate priest and one which resonated incredibly well with me. The simple soup dinners before each Vespers service are a means of coming together in fellowship while still remembering our lenten promises. The candlelit Vespers services are now something I look forward to every year as times of deep reflection, meditation and closeness to Christ. 

Wherever you are, I pray that you are able to draw nearer to Christ during this holy season of Lent.