Lent is a Time to Grow in Love Through Charity & Penance, by Constance T. Hull

By Constance T. Hull, Catholic Exchange, Feb. 18, 2021

Constance T. Hull is a wife, mother, homeschooler, and a graduate with an M.A. in Theology with an emphasis in philosophy. … 

The Lenten season is once more upon us. It is a time to sacrifice through penance, seek greater intimacy with God in prayer, and give to those in need. These are all things we should be doing all year long, but Lent heightens our awareness and draws us away from the things of this world into the desert with Our Lord where we can be purified through self-imposed mortifications. This purification is the path to greater love.

The process is not meant to be easy. In fact, it should be painful, because we are called to put to death our own self-love for love of God and in order to love others. This causes us considerable agony due to our sinful nature. We are reminded that we are to seek the spiritual above the bodily. We are body and spirit, but the spirit is meant to be the master of the body. In our fallen sinful state, it is the body with the senses that typically rule over us. …