Lent Plans for 2026

It's Ash Wednesday again, a day "of fasting and abstinence," as described in the Catechism of the Catholic Church, paragraph 2043. Fasting is eating much less food than you normally would; abstinence in this context is not eating meat. The point of this penance is not to punish yourself. It's to "acquire mastery over our instincts and freedom of heart." Rather than being led around by our appetites, we practice saying "no" to them so that we are free to focus on other, more important things. Eating food is important but not the most important thing in our lives. Ash Wednesday and Good Friday are the two prescribed days for fast and abstinence in America, with the Fridays in Lent only requiring abstinence from meat. The obligation is not so great. Often, people add other days for themselves or make other sacrifices, the classical "giving up something for Lent." As a family, we are going vegetarian for Lent, which will be a big challenge for all of us except for the one who is already mostly vegetarian. The thought crossed my mind to give up alcohol for Lent as well. Since the thought stuck around, I'll be doing that too!

The other traditional practices in Lent (in addition to fasting) are prayer and almsgiving. For prayer, I am again joining a Bible draft league. Last Sunday, I and a bunch of other guys drafted sections of the Bible (either whole books or parts of longer books--Genesis is divided into five sections and the Gospel of Luke into six sections, for example). I have eight passages that I will read and then write a small reflection on, sharing it with the other guys from the draft. Collectively, we are reading the whole Bible over Lent. I chose as my team name "Apocalypso Dancer" so I chose the books of Revelation and Daniel, among other cheery stuff. It should be a good read.

For almsgiving, we will be donating to local pregnancy centers. And all my beer money will go to a much better cause than my own happiness!

For spiritual reading, in addition to the Bible reading for the Bible draft, I will read Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture: New Testament XIIL Revelation, among other religious books. 

I hope you have a fruitful Lent!