Entering Lent: A Season of Preparation, Surrender, and Grace

As we move towards the end of the season of Epiphany and the world around us begins its slow awakening from winter’s grip, the Church gently leads us into a new and necessary season—Lent.

This sacred time is not just a prelude to Easter. It is a journey of the soul, a season of reflection, repentance, and preparation. Just as Christ was led into the wilderness for forty days, so too are we invited to follow, to walk the road of self-examination, humility, and transformation.

In a world that constantly calls us to consume, achieve, and distract ourselves, Lent offers something far richer: a call to pause, to strip away the noise, and to reorient our hearts toward the cross and the hope of resurrection.

What Is Lent?

Lent is the 40-day season of preparation before Easter, beginning on Ash Wednesday and concluding at sundown on Holy Saturday. (If you count the days and find 46, that’s because Sundays are always “little Easters,”resurrection days not included in the fast.)

The number 40 is no accident. It echoes deeply throughout Scripture:

• Moses spent 40 days on Mount Sinai receiving the Law (Exodus 24:18).

• The Israelites wandered 40 years in the wilderness before entering the Promised Land (Numbers 14:33–34).

• Elijah journeyed 40 days to Mount Horeb to encounter God (1 Kings 19:8).

• And Jesus, before beginning His public ministry, fasted for 40 days in the desert (Matthew 4:1–11), confronting temptation and fully submitting himself to the Father’s will.

  
  

Lent mirrors this scriptural pattern. It’s not just about giving things up, it’s about stepping into the spiritual wilderness, confronting our distractions and desires, and making space for renewal.

Lent’s Three Pillars: Prayer, Fasting, and Almsgiving

Since the early centuries of the Church, three key disciplines have guided our Lenten journey. These practices are not arbitrary rules, they are deeply biblical invitations into communion with God and love of neighbor.

1. Prayer: Turning Our Hearts Toward God

Lent is an ideal time to rekindle our prayer lives. Prayer is not just a ritual; it’s a relationship. It invites us to speak honestly with God, to listen attentively, and to rest in His presence.

Ways to pray more deeply this season:

• Add morning or evening prayer to your daily rhythm.

• Use a Lenten devotional, Scripture journal, or daily examen.

• Attend extra services, many churches offer Stations of the Cross, Lenten Vespers, or Compline.

• Keep a list of people to pray for. Let Lent be a time of intercession for the weary, the lost, and the hurting.

  
  

As Jesus withdrew to commune with the Father, so too are we called to step away from the busyness and sit quietly with God.

2. Fasting: Making Room for What Matters

Fasting is the most visible of the Lenten disciplines, but it’s often misunderstood. Fasting isn’t about punishing ourselves or proving our holiness, it’s about clearing space so that we can more clearly hear God’s voice.

Traditional fasting ideas include:

• Abstaining from meat on Fridays.

• Giving up a particular food or drink, sweets, coffee, alcohol.

• Fasting from habits that distract or enslave, social media, noise, unnecessary spending.

  
  

In the end, fasting reveals what we turn to for comfort or distraction. It shows us how weak our flesh is and it reminds us of how much we desperately need God.

3. Almsgiving: Love That Takes Action

Lent’s third pillar is almsgiving, a practice that moves us from inward reflection to outward compassion. As we draw closer to God in prayer and make room for Him through fasting, we are also invited to pour ourselves out in love for others.

This can take many forms:

• Donating to charitable organizations or local ministries.

• Volunteering your time or skills to help the vulnerable.

• Practicing daily acts of generosity, whether financial, emotional, or practical.

  
  

True religion, Scripture tells us, is to “care for orphans and widows in their distress” (James 1:27). Almsgiving embodies the Gospel in flesh-and-blood ways.

Lent Is a Journey—Not a Checklist

It’s easy to reduce Lent to a series of do’s and don’ts: No meat, no treats, more prayer. But Lent is not about religious perfection. It’s a journey of transformation. Some years we may enter it with enthusiasm and discipline. Other years, we may feel dry, distracted, or overwhelmed.

And yet, God meets us where we are.

You don’t have to do Lent perfectly. You’re not being graded. The invitation is simply to turn, to return, to Christ. Again and again. That’s the heart of repentance: not guilt, but reorientation.

So whether your Lenten rule is carefully crafted or simply an honest prayer each day, know that grace covers the journey.

Ashes and the Invitation to Return

Lent begins with Ash Wednesday, when the Church gently places ashes on our foreheads with the words: “Remember that you are dust, and to dust you shall return.”

It’s a sobering reminder, but also a freeing one.

We are dust. We are not in control. And yet, we are loved. Loved by the One who formed us from the earth and breathes life into our lungs.

The ashes are not the end. They mark the beginning of a journey, a journey that leads us through repentance, through suffering, through the cross, and ultimately into resurrection.

Embracing Lent as a Gift

What if we chose to see Lent not as an obligation, but as a gift?

What if these forty days are an opportunity, to be quiet, to be honest, to be healed?

What if, instead of bracing ourselves for hardship, we entered Lent with openness and expectancy?

Yes, Lent will ask something of us. It will ask us to surrender, to examine, to let go. But it will also give something far greater in return: renewed hope, deeper peace, and the joy of Easter morning that can only come after the long night.

So, how will you keep Lent this year?

What might God be asking you to release?

Where might He be inviting you to return?

Let’s walk through this season together, with simplicity, with intention, and with hearts wide open.

The tomb will not remain sealed. The stone will be rolled away. Resurrection is coming.

Let us prepare to meet it.

—Ashley

Looking for a helpful guide to Lent?

My book, The Liturgical Home: Lent, was written exactly for this season. Whether you’re just beginning to explore the Church calendar or looking for a fresh way to engage Lent at home, this guide offers the meaning behind Lent and all of it’s rich traditions, family devotions, recipes, and all of the feast days and fast days and how to celebrate them in your home.

Grab your copy HERE and walk through Lent with intention this year.