Lent is a season in the church calendar set apart as a time of intentional preparation for Easter, typically marked by increased fasting, reflection, and giving to those in need. The season begins roughly forty days before Easter, and Holy Week is the seven-day period from Palm Sunday to Resurrection Sunday.

The entire church year revolves around two celebratory cycles, one culminating in Christmas and one in Easter. As the Christmas cycle begins with the preparatory season of Advent, the Easter cycle begins with Lent. Advent helps us prepare to celebrate Jesus’ incarnation and to look forward to his Second Coming, while Lent prepares us to celebrate and commemorate Jesus’ death, burial, and resurrection.

While Sundays are typically understood to be a weekly day of celebration marked by worship and feasting, Lent is traditionally marked by fasting. This year, we are emphasizing a different weekly theme as we prepare our hearts and minds for Resurrection Sunday. The weekly emphases (you’ll hear more about them as they come) are Scripture, worship, service, prayer, almsgiving, and fasting. We will provide suggestions for both individuals and families. Take our resources and make them your own. Some of them you may totally cut out. Others may need to be adapted based on your situation.

May we prepare our hearts with diligence and gratitude this Lenten season to joyfully celebrate the empty tomb that changed the course of human history!