Parents,

At your baptism you were given the gift of faith. At your child’s baptism he or she was given the gift of faith. The gift of the Catholic faith has been passed down for generations and generations. We can and should nurture this gift given to us by God, and we should nurture the gift of faith given to our children by raising them to know, love, and serve the Lord. As parents, it is our right and duty to teach our children the Catholic faith.

Once per month, the online lesson will consist of a different element of our faith; it could be a Catholic tradition, a fact about our faith, from the Bible, from our Catholic Catechism, or a Catholic belief.  All lessons will expand on that topic so that you will enjoy the beauty and richness of our Catholic faith.

Opening Prayer

Loving God,
as we begin this Lenten season,
help us slow down and make room for You in our hearts.

Teach us to be more loving, more patient, and more forgiving.
Give us the courage to let go of habits that pull us away from You
and the strength to choose what is good, even when it’s hard.

May this Lent help us grow closer to Jesus
and become the people You created us to be.

We ask this through Christ our Lord.
Amen.

Understanding Lent

Pray, Fast, Give:

Coming Close to God in the Wilderness

After Jesus was baptized, he followed the Holy Spirit into the wilderness. He stayed there for forty days and forty nights. Like Moses on the mountain. Like Noah in the arc. Like the Israelites’ years in the desert. 

Like them, Jesus wanted to come close to God. In the wilderness, there is no one and nothing, except for God. Not even food. So Jesus fasted. He ate nothing. Not one crumb of bread. Not one grain of salt. And he prayed. Jesus talked to his Father, and he listened, too. 

But Jesus wasn’t the only one in the wilderness. The devil was there too. The devil tempted Jesus to eat food. Just like the serpent tempted Adam and Eve to eat the fruit in the garden. And he tempted Jesus to turn away from God.

But Jesus didn’t turn away. He didn’t eat like Adam and Eve had done. Instead, Jesus came close to God. You see, Jesus was getting ready because he knew that when he left the wilderness, he would have big work to do. He would need to feed the hungry, and heal the sick, and tell everyone about the the kingdom of God. And he also knew that after he did all this, he was going to die.

A long time ago, the church set aside 40 days for us to come close to God, too. We call it Lent. During Lent, we are all on a journey with Jesus in the wilderness. We are all getting ready for Jesus’ death and resurrection.

There are three ways that we can come close to God during Lent.

1.   Jesus said we should pray, that we should talk to God and listen.

2.   Jesus said we should fast, give up something important to us for a time. 

3.   Jesus said that we should give. Give our time, give our money, give our love, give our things. 

For the next 40 days, we will pray, we will fast, we will give. Use the calendar from the Activity that follows.  Each day, follow along the calendar to participate in one of the activities, and come close to God as you do them. Let’s walk with Jesus through the wilderness, so that we can celebrate with him in his resurrection.