Lent is a perfect time to strengthen your family’s faith life — but time can so often be at a premium for today’s busy families.
This Lent, the diocesan Office of Faith Formation will help you and your family journey through the season with an approachable, practical Bible study series. Each week the series will focus on an aspect of Sunday’s Gospel reading, provide questions for reflection, and suggest ways to live out the Lenten practices of praying, fasting, and giving.
The series begins this week with a reflection for Ash Wednesday. Find the continuing series each week in the Sun, and visit facebook.com/DioceseofSyracuse for more Lenten resources.
Gospel focus
Jesus teaches that almsgiving, prayer, and fasting should be done in secret
(Mt 6:1-6, 16-18)
Reflection questions
• What good could I do this week without seeking acknowledgment or praise?
• Thomas Merton said that ashes “are not a sign of death, but a promise of life.” How do you hope to live this “promise of life” this Lent?
Suggestions for action
• Start and end your day in gratitude by praying when you wake and at bedtime. Offer a prayer before meals.
• Give your smile away freely, knowing how loved you and others are by God.
• Fast from negativity and feast on God’s goodness.
