Your guide to Lent

Pope Francis puts ash on the faithful during Ash Wednesday mass last week. NET PHOTO

What you need to know:

Lent is here. From the sermon by the priest, self sacrifice and repentance are the Lent objectives. Pauline Bangirana and agencies bring you what Lent is about.

On Ash Wednesday, people went to church to start Lent. Fr Christopher Kayongo at Christ the King Church, in his sermon said the customs that surround the season have a quality to them that transcend religion.
“The act of fasting is notable but it is a time of suffering, repentance and alms giving.” In the same vein, pope Francis in his message on Ash Wednesday told Christians to go beyond fasting food during the season.

Never become superficial
According to Francis, fasting must never become superficial. He often quotes the early Christian mystic John Chrysostom who said: “No act of virtue can be great if it is not followed by advantage for others. So, no matter how much time you spend fasting, no matter how much you sleep on a hard floor and eat ashes and sigh continually, if you do no good to others, you do nothing great.”
But this isn’t to downplay the role of sacrifice during Lent. Lent is a good time for penance and self-denial.

Indifference towards others
So, if we are going to fast anything this Lent, Francis suggests that even more than candy or alcohol, we fast on indifference towards others.
In his annual Lenten message, the pope writes, “Indifference to our neighbours and to God also represents a real temptation for us Christians. Each year during Lent we need to hear once more the voice of the prophets who cry out and trouble our conscience.” Describing this phenomenon he calls the globalisation of indifference, “whenever our interior life becomes caught up in its own interests and concerns, there is no longer room for others, no place for the poor. God’s voice is no longer heard, the quiet joy of his love is no longer felt, and the desire to do good fades.”
He writes adding, “We end up being incapable of feeling compassion at the outcry of the poor, weeping for other people’s pain, and feeling a need to help them, as though all this were someone else’s responsibility and not our own.”

Love more
Lent is the perfect time to learn how to love again. Jesus certainly showed us the way. In him, God descends to bring everyone up. In his life and his ministry, no one is excluded. “What are you giving up for Lent?” It’s a question a lot of people will get these next few days. If you want to change your body, perhaps alcohol and candy is the way to go. But if you want to change your heart, a harder fast is needed. It will make room for a love that sets us free.