What you need to know about Lent 2020

Editor’s note: This information was used with the permission of the United States Catholic Conference of Bishops (www.usccb.org.)

During Lent, Catholics are asked to devote themselves to seeking the Lord in prayer and reading Scripture, to service by giving alms, and to practice self-control through fasting. Many know of the tradition of abstaining from meat on Fridays during Lent, but Catholics are also called to practice self-discipline and fast in other ways throughout the season. In addition, the giving of alms is one way to share God’s gifts — not only through the distribution of money, but through the sharing of our time and talents. As St. John Chrysostom reminds: “Not to enable the poor to share in our goods is to steal from them and deprive them of life. The goods we possess are not ours, but theirs.” (Catechism of the Catholic Church, no. 2446) 

FASTING

Good Friday — and including the just celebrated Ash Wednesday — are obligatory days of fasting and abstinence for Catholics. In addition, Fridays during Lent are obligatory days of abstinence. For members of the Latin Catholic Church, the norms on fasting are obligatory from age 18-59. When fasting, a person is permitted to eat one full meal, as well as two smaller meals that together are not equal to a full meal. The norms concerning abstinence from meat are binding upon members of the Latin Catholic Church from age 14 onwards. If possible, the fast on Good Friday is continued until the Easter Vigil (on Holy Saturday night) as the “paschal fast” to honor the suffering and death of the Lord Jesus, and to prepare ourselves to share more fully and to celebrate more readily his Resurrection.

ALMSGIVING

The foundational call of Christians to charity is a frequent theme of the Gospels. During Lent, Catholics are asked to focus more intently on “almsgiving,” which means donating money or goods to the poor and performing other acts of charity.  As one of the three pillars of Lenten practice, almsgiving is “a witness to fraternal charity” and  “a work of justice pleasing to God.” (Catechism of the Catholic Church, no. 2462). Donations to Church ministries for which collections are conducted during the Lenten season including: Collection for the Church in Central and Eastern Europe; National Black and Indian Mission Collection; Catholic Relief Services Collection; Collection for the Holy Land; and CRS Rice Bowl.