Online Lenten Resources
Lent offers us all a very special opportunity to grow in our relationship with God and to deepen our commitment to a way of life, rooted in our baptism.
In our busy world, Lent provides us with an opportunity to reflect upon our patterns, to pray more deeply, experience sorrow for what we’ve done and failed to do, and to be generous to those in need.
2017 Lent Message: “The Word is a gift. Other persons are a gift.”
“Dear Brothers and Sisters, Lent is a new beginning, a path leading to the certain goal of Easter, Christ’s victory over death. This season urgently calls us to conversion. Christians are asked to return to God “with all their hearts” (Joel 2:12), to refuse to settle for mediocrity and to grow in friendship with the Lord.” – Pope Francis
Lent is a time when Christian communities reflect on the word of God, repent our transgressions and improve our ways through sacrifice. We begin this season with humility and end in grace.
The above, and many more resources, can be found at Praying Lent, the online ministry of Creighton University.
Here are more online resources for your Lenten devotions:
Lent 2017: “Give Up, Take Up, Lift Up!” (U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops)
“In a particular way during Lent, we are asked to devote ourselves to the spiritual and corporal works of mercy that ‘remind us that faith finds expression in concrete everyday actions meant to help our neighbors in body and spirit.’”
The Bishops also list many resources for your Lenten devotions both for parishes and individuals.
CRL Prayer Book (Catholic Rural Life)
The Catholic Rural Life Prayer Book offers spiritual prayers to be prayed throughout your Lenten and Easter journey. It includes blessings, novenas, devotions, and more.
Part of “A Prayer for Lent” found in CRL Prayer Book:
“DEAR Lord, we are now in the holy season of Lent. We
know that we are all sinners. We know that sin destroys Your life in us
as a drought withers the leaves and chokes the life from the land, leaving
an arid, dusty desert.
Help us now, Lord, in our feeble attempts to make up
for past sin. Bless our efforts with the rich blessing of Your grace. Make
us realize ever more our need of penance and of mortification. Help us to
see, in our ordinary difficulties and duties, in the trials and temptations
of every day, the best opportunity of making up for past infidelities.”
Maryknoll Lenten Reflection Guide (Maryknoll Office for Global Concerns)
This Lenten Reflection Guide contains reflections, questions, prayers, and actions based on each week’s Gospel reading and the written reflections and recorded discussions by the 83 Catholic peacemakers who attended the Nonviolence and Just Peace conference in Rome in April 2016.
Use this 16-page guide individually or in small groups to reflect upon our life patterns, to pray more deeply, and renew our spirits to face the realities of our world.
CRS Rice Bowl (Catholic Relief Services)
This year marks the 42nd year of CRS Rice Bowl – the largest and oldest Lenten program practiced by Catholics in the US. Through prayer and donations, the CRS Rice Bowl campaign alleviates hunger caused by poverty and eases the lives of families in developing countries as well as here in the US.
