Now Is the Time to Prepare for Lent, by Marge Fenelon

You may have more on your plate than you can manage, and so thinking about Lent ahead of time may be completely off your radar. Yet now is precisely the time to think about it so that you can take full advantage of those 40 precious days marked out by the Church for your benefit. Lent is a sacred time during which we are invited to reflect, re-evaluate and renew our faith and relationship with God. But all that takes time and effort that we might think we do not have.

St. Cyril of Jerusalem offers gentle admonishment for those of us who think we are too busy or burdened to give serious thought to Lent. He said, “Have you run so many circles of the years bustling vainly about the world, and yet you don’t have 40 days to be free for prayer for your own soul’s sake?” Bustling vainly about the world fits the description of my life right now, and I imagine it might fit yours as well. …