Give it up (making a Lenten sacrifice)

Here are some augmentations and practical applications of the "Keep a Good Lent" greeting that I offered in my parish newsletter:

"I credit Pastor for the thought that we should commend one another to “keep a good Lent”. The Lenten season really does not have a greeting, like “Merry Christmas” or “Happy New Year.” So, he proposes, we should greet (and exhort) one another to “keep a good Lent.”

How then might we keep a good Lent? What follows are some suggestions often offered in sermons on the first Sunday of the new calendar year, but which hold no less urgency at this time of recommitment:

• Keep a good Lent by coming to Worship one Sunday per month more than you presently do. If you have been in the habit of attending one Sunday a month, come two Sundays a month. If you have been in the habit of coming two Sundays a month, come three.

• Keep a good Lent by supplementing your Sunday worship with weekday services. Wednesday Eucharist is not just for those who are advanced in years, but for any who seek to hear more proclamation of Christ in Word and Sacrament. And various holy days appear throughout the year on days other than Sunday.

• Keep a good Lent by attending the Christian education program of the Church; Sunday School. Sunday School is not just for young children, but for any who seek to learn more about the the Bible and its meaning for daily life.

• Keep a good Lent by increasing your giving--your financial support of the congregation--just a little. Don’t feel that you must increase your weekly envelope by $5.00 or $10.00, or even by a whole dollar figure. If you write a check, why not make the cents “75" or “50” instead of “00”?"

· Keep a good Lent by coming to Worship one Sunday per month more than you presently do. If you have been in the habit of attending one Sunday a month, come two Sundays a month. If you have been in the habit of coming two Sundays a month, come three.

I would hope everyone would be attending Mass EVERY Sunday and coming to Mass additional days of the week. Maybe this recommendation was a typo?

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