For many Christians, it’s a special time of year to rededicate themselves to God anew. Lent is the 40-day period from Ash Wednesday to Easter Sunday when fasting, prayer, and almsgiving are the focuses of how they observe the religious tradition.
“It initially developed as a time of preparation for people who were preparing to be baptized at Easter,” explained Rev. James Ravenscroft, of the St. Albert United Church, with a history lesson that goes back many centuries.
“This was an important time of prayer and fasting as people were letting go of their old lives in order to take on the spirit of Christ. To be a Christian, you couldn't be a soldier or a gladiator. It meant you had to be willing to change your attitude toward the poor, slaves, etc. It was a big deal.”
He continued that, over time, more Christian adults were baptized and then baptism became common for infants. That’s when Lent lost its original focus and became more about penitence.
“The prayer and fasting was still important but now it was about acknowledging your mortality and the need to be right with God.”
He acknowledges that different people choose to observe Lent in different ways. His church has been hosting special mindfulness sessions with a trained instructor who will help the participants to focus more on the present and let go of negative issues.
Students and staff at Ă©cole Marie Poburan were challenged to endure a 24-hour famine.
"Not a famine from food, but a famine from technology," explained Marie Gamache-Hauptman, the school's principal. "We hope that in fasting from technology, we rediscover the people around us, some fun activities we can do when we are unplugged, or even some quiet time!"
As for fasting, Ravenscroft said that he fasts on Friday to coincide with Good Friday.
“I generally fast as a way to open my own spirit to God. As I grow hungry, I know it is only God who can ultimately fill me. It also makes me conscious of what I have in a world where so many don't have enough. It releases me to be more giving.”
Louis Kloster, the religious education consultant with the Greater St. Albert Catholic Schools suggested that students in his school district have been encouraged to honour all three of the traditional Lent practices of prayer, fasting and giving alms.
That last one can sometimes be a bit of a trick with students who do not have direct access to money. Many have found other ways to give back instead.
“Students have been encouraged to reach out to the marginalized in our community in other ways than donating money, such as volunteering their time to tutor, visiting the elderly, or donating an item of clothing that they still wear to someone who might need it more,” he wrote in an email to the Gazette. “To be open to those that have less is great way to move closer to God.”
The entire school division has banded together to work with the Canadian Catholic Organization for Development and Peace to help re-build houses, schools, parks and daycare centres for Tacloban in the Philippines, a city that faced much devastation after Typhoon Haiyan in November 2013. It killed approximately 5,000 people and left 43,000 families homeless. Those students at Ă©cole Marie Poburan raised pledges for every hour of their famine, and that money was sent to the cause as well.
