Family Lenten Ideas

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So what are some things that you and your family do for Lent each year?

Here’s one we may do again this year:
Make a list of family and friends and put them in a hat, draw out a name (or several if you have a lot of names) and say a special prayer for them. Make/buy a card saying you prayed for them on that day and send it off. See how the Holy Spirit uses your prayers! When we did this before, I got back several comments about how our prayers came on just the right day! What a blessing!

God bless!
Jennifer
 
Normally, we do this throughout the year, but it would be good for lent. We have the kids purge their toys and give them to charity. Not all of them, but enough that we are not so buried in material items. Also considering no tv during lent.
 
We will do Stations of the Cross every Friday, with dinner at the Parish (as a family). DS will be attending a fasting retreat.

We’ll try to make a meal for a neighbor once each week during Lent.
 
It is a negative not positive discipline, but the ****** (fill in bad habit or vice of choice) jar. Charge whatever amount you feel is appropriate to the inhabitants of the house to use vulgarity, leave clothes on the floor, grouse about chores, watch extra TV, etc. Send the money to charity of Operation Rice Bowl at the end of Lent.
 
I don’t know if this is a Lenten idea, exactly, because we’ve just started doing it now.

The kids got a little handout with 1 Cor. 13 on it… the “Love is patient, love is kind…” passage that eveyone likes so much for weddings. We decided to find the line that we do the worst, and work on that. (For us, that would be “Love is not prone to anger.”)

Still, I told them that the point of Lent was making a special effort to turn back to making God first, as a preparation for Easter. Easter celebrates that Jesus bought us eternal life, eternal life comes when God makes us into a new person, and becoming that new person means losing all the stuff about you that would make it impossible to live with you and still be in Heaven. Just as Purgatory gets us ready for the joy of Heaven, Lent gets us ready for the joy of Easter.

So, for Lent, you look at whatever you might let get between you and God (be honest: those are often the same things that get between you and your siblings!) or that you might be making more important than following God, and you work on that.

PS: Facing up to our backsliding by instituting the “Vice Jar” is a great idea! Personal amendment and giving alms, all rolled into one!
 
Jennifer J:
So what are some things that you and your family do for Lent each year?

Here’s one we may do again this year:
Make a list of family and friends and put them in a hat, draw out a name (or several if you have a lot of names) and say a special prayer for them. Make/buy a card saying you prayed for them on that day and send it off. See how the Holy Spirit uses your prayers! When we did this before, I got back several comments about how our prayers came on just the right day! What a blessing!

God bless!
Jennifer
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I think it’s a great idea to make a list of intentions for prayers. As a reminder to yourself, keep a space for a note when your prayers are answered. The list then becomes one for thanking God for the intentions that were fulfilled.
 
I ran across a good idea from Canticle magazine. For each of the 40 days of Lent, remove one garbage bag full of “stuff” from your home. It can be stuff to donate or throw aways, as long as you are getting rid of it. I thought this was a good idea as there are a lot of lessons you could get and teach from this. They actually listed specific things to go through for each day, but you can just start in one corner of your house and forty days later finish up in the opposite corner.
 
I start Ash wed. By watching the “Passion of the Christ” with my two teens and husband after ash wed. service.

This is a new practice obviously only begun since it came out on DVD…but we only watch the movie one day a year so as not to become to commonplace…and it really gets us in the mood for doing our all for Jesus who gave it all!
 
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Marquette:
I ran across a good idea from Canticle magazine. For each of the 40 days of Lent, remove one garbage bag full of “stuff” from your home. It can be stuff to donate or throw aways, as long as you are getting rid of it. I thought this was a good idea as there are a lot of lessons you could get and teach from this. They actually listed specific things to go through for each day, but you can just start in one corner of your house and forty days later finish up in the opposite corner.
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I loved this idea, copied and emailed it to DH - - his response…

"
I like throwing stuff away anyway…so for me that would be unlenten.

kidding."
 
Wow some great ideas here. I generally make up a calendar appropriate for each grade. With something on everyday that they can give up or charitable acts they can do for Lent.
I liked many of your ideas and will probably incorporate them with the older students.
 
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