How Is Your Lent Going So Far?

How Is Your Lent Going So Far?

We are now somewhere in the middle of the journey. The ashes of Ash Wednesday have long been washed from our foreheads. The enthusiasm of the first days may have faded. And perhaps the question quietly arises:

How is your Lent going so far?

Lent is not a spiritual performance. It is not about proving our strength to God. It is a sacred season of returning — returning to the heart of the Father, returning to prayer, returning to what truly matters. The Church gives us these forty days to walk with Jesus into the desert, to prepare our hearts for the glory of Easter.

But somewhere along the way, we can drift.

Maybe:

• The fasting has become mechanical.  The prayer has become rushed.  Almsgiving has been forgotten.  Or perhaps we never really began.

The good news? It is not too late. Lent is not about how you started — it is about how you allow God to shape you now.

1. Recenter on Relationship, Not Rules

Lent is not primarily about “giving up chocolate” or cutting out coffee. Those can be helpful disciplines. But they are only tools.

Ask yourself:  has my Lenten practice brought me closer to Jesus? Am I speaking to Him more honestly? Am I listening more deeply?

If your practices feel empty, adjust them. Add ten intentional minutes of silent prayer each day. Read one Gospel passage slowly. Sit with it. Let it speak.  Lent is about relationship.

2. Deepen Your Prayer Life

Jesus often withdrew to pray. Lent invites us to do the same.

Suggestions:

• Begin each morning with a simple offering: “Lord, I give You this day.”
• Spend five minutes in silence before checking your phone.
• Pray with Scripture — especially the Passion narratives.

Prayer is not about saying more words. It is about creating space for God.

 

3. Examine Your Heart Honestly

Lent is also about conversion — metanoia — a change of heart.

Instead of only giving up external things, consider:

• Is there resentment I need to release?  Is there someone I need to forgive?  Is pride quietly running my life?   Have I become spiritually complacent?

A sincere examination of conscience can renew your entire Lent. Grace always restores what effort alone cannot.

4. Fast with Purpose

Fasting is not self-punishment. It trains the heart.  When you feel the discomfort of fasting, offer it for someone in need.  Let the hunger remind you of your deeper hunger for God.  Ask yourself: What truly satisfies me?

Perhaps consider fasting from:

• Complaining
• Gossip
• Excess media
• Impatience

The most powerful fast is often interior.

5. Practice Concrete Charity

Lent calls us outward.  Check on someone who is lonely.   Be more patient with your spouse or children.  Give generously and quietly.  Perform one hidden act of kindness each day.  Almsgiving is love made visible.

6. If You’ve Fallen Short… Begin Again

Perhaps your Lent hasn’t gone well. That realization itself is grace.  Lent mirrors the Christian life: we stumble, but we rise. The Father is not keeping score. He is drawing us home.

Today can be a new beginning.