Lent Provides Us with Many Opportunities to Grow in Faith

Each year seems to go faster and faster. It seems Advent and Christmas have just passed — and before we know it, Lent is already over and Easter has arrived. We don’t want this time to sneak up on us this year — after all, Lent is an important time for renewal in our faith.

With COVID-19 precautions in place, Lent activities could look different this year, says seminarian Victor Goranov. But Lent can still be an impactful time of conversion, personal prayer and penance.

Victor loves to lead people to Jesus — and he will be doing just that through a virtual mini-series taking place on Sundays this Lent. The mini-series will be a great way to prepare our hearts and minds for Easter.

This past Advent, Fr. Avram Brown led a similar series on Thursdays with a theme of preparing for Christmas and waiting for the Kingdom of God. About 40 to 50 people joined each week, and the series included an hour-long reflection with time for questions.

“We got some very positive feedback from this, so we decided we would try it again for Lent,” Victor says.

The upcoming Lent mini-series will be the first time that Victor has led a program like this, and he really looks forward to the opportunity to lead people to Jesus. People of our parish have been asking for more opportunities for adult faith formation, so this will be a great way to fill that need.

“This will be a chance to deepen the spirituality of our parish and give people more of an understanding of the season of Lent,” Victor says.

Victor invites all parishioners, young and old, to attend the mini-series. Each session will follow a new theme, so you can attend as many or as few as you like. There won’t be a book, as the series is topic-based. If you can’t attend the mini-series, Victor recommends a few other ways to observe the Lenten season. The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops offers a number of resources on their website, usccb.org. You may also consider purchasing a Lenten reflection book or following resources from a variety of Catholic Internet apps.

Most importantly, we should all make the effort to receive the Sacrament of Reconciliation during Lent — there will be additional Confession times and dates available.

“We should make attending Confession a high priority during Lent,” Victor says. “Lent means ‘spring,’ so it’s a time of preparation. We should think of Lent like spring cleaning. There is nothing like going into Easter with a clean conscience.”

Victor also says giving something up can be a wonderful way to prepare for Easter. When we stop eating chocolate or commit to less sin, we can turn our minds and hearts closer to Jesus.

“When we give something up, it helps us spiritually detach from things that have an oversized influence in our lives, and it helps us get in touch with the reality of things,” Victor says. “This life is temporary. The more we unstick from things that entangle us, the easier it is to stick to Jesus.” Let’s use this Lent as a chance to be with Jesus in the desert and grow in faith. Please refer to the bulletin and our parish website, www.stisidore-yubacity.org, for information on Lenten offerings and Easter Mass times.

Seminarian Victor Goranov