Erin Baxley, Young Adult ENDOW participant, Colorado

As for Lent, it's one of those things that I don't really look forward to, but I love the feeling afterwards--like going to the dentist. Typical human that I am, I don't like to make sacrifices and fast and part of me dreads this season for those very reasons. But once my human nature takes a break, it gets easier to see how prayerful, how melancholy, and how beautiful Lent really is. Culturally, we're so trained for an 'instant' society; we're don't have to anticipate anything anymore. It can be really satisfying to let the anticipation of Easter build, culminating in the Triduum when the Church is at it's height of beautiful traditions. Sacrificing and fasting included, it's well worth the wait!

Gloria Zapian, ENDOW Diocesan Leader, Texas

When I was growing up and attending Catholic school, Lent meant fish sticks and quiet recess on Friday – we could read a book or play outside, but we had to be silent. It was tough for some of the others, but I loved the “quiet time” – I still do. These days, I “fast” from radio, TV, and extraneous media and computer (too often, the 21st century “idiot box”) time and spend my time praying the rosary in my car, listening to CD’s of past religious conferences I’ve attended, doing reading that actually requires engaging the brain (this year’s project: Edith Stein’s Essays on Woman and a collection of insights from great spiritual writers – Catholic, Protestant, and Orthodox), and just being quiet; because as Elijah the prophet discovered, the voice of the Lord was not to be found in the ranging whirlwind, earthquake, or fire he experienced, but in the sound of a breeze gentle blowing – all too often drowned out by our busy, noisy lives. Just as the Jesus went into the desert for 40 days to be alone with his Father before beginning his ministry– I like Lent to be a bit of “desert time” with the Lord. As far as Lent goes, you might say I like the strong, silent type.

Mercedes W. Gutierrez, Founding ENDOW Board Member, Colorado

Lent has always been a time I cherish and actually anticipate because it demands silence…something that is rare and precious. During these 40 days, I like to quiet myself and reflect on God’s presence in my life. In these moments of silence, many common-sense questions surface that so easily pass by during the hustle of everyday life. Questions like: How have I been open to God’s daily graces? What areas of my life are closed off from Him? Where do I need to open myself more to the Holy Spirit? And, of course, when contemplating these questions, my mind and heart are drawn to the face of Jesus. I see His mercy, His tenderness, His unconditional love and His invitation to give me more: more joy, more peace, more meaning...if I just give Him more of myself! This is the treasure of Lent: encountering Jesus in a deeper and more personal way.

Judy Maden, ENDOW Diocesan Leader, Michigan

Our journey into the Paschal Mystery—contemplating deeply on Christ’s Passion, death, and resurrection—helps us to grow stronger in our conviction of living boldly as disciples for Christ. This is why Lent is my favorite season of the Liturgical year as it offers us time to reflect on our walk of faith and how we have united it with Christ. How have I proclaimed His Word to others through my actions and words? How have I found Christ in the midst of my sufferings? Have I found the face of Jesus forsaken in the suffering of others and given them comfort? How have I boldly stood as a Christian witness to the world and if I have been ‘crucified’ for my beliefs, have I united my experience with Christ so that I too, may rise and grow stronger in my faith? Lent is a time to reflect on my conversion. Am I growing in virtue and holiness? Do I see Christ in the midst of my work and family life? Do I sing praises to the Lord? Do I tell others of His Love and Mercy? How can I be a better disciple, growing in union with the Lord I love so? Lent is a time of conversion and growth, death and dying for it is only through letting go of our old ways—dying to them—that we can rise to new life in Christ on Easter morn!

Fr. Hellstrom, St. John Vianney Theological Seminary, Colorado

Lent is my time to invite the Holy Spirit to reveal to me those areas that limit him from working in my life, to show me the specific antidotes, and to walk with him through them. My conversion isn’t so often from bad to good, but from the good things I want to choose to the much better things He chooses (whether they are easier or harder). The Church invites me to 40 days of this, and to walk with Jesus in his desert and mine. I think I will need many Lents then for real conversion, healing, and total trust in the Father’s plan.

40 days, 40 reflections

Ash Wednesday, February 16, 2010
By Terry Polakovic

As we begin our 2010 Lenten season, I am reminded of another time, the Lent of 1987. That was the Lent my mother died. However, it is not her death that floods my memory. It is the fact that in spite of the immense pain connected with losing our mother, my 17-year old sister refused to break her Lenten fast. She simply would not do it, no matter how hard I tried to convince her that God would understand. She felt that God deserved better than that. Even though I was 33 at the time, I felt entitled to break the fast, and had no problem doing so. To my way of thinking, my mother’s death was Lent enough. Thankfully, the years have taught me that it is not about the fast; it is about the humility. In other words, it is not about me.

Today, I welcome every Ash Wednesday. I have come to appreciate that Lent is that special time of year when we are encouraged to meditate solely on the depth of God’s infinite love for us. And when I think of God’s special love for me, I think of that scared young woman who was insistent on breaking her Lenten fast and compare her to the woman I have become and still hope to be. I recall all of the times He has loved me in spite of myself, and how His grace has directed the different paths I have taken over these past twenty three years, since the death of my mother. Meditating on His love reminds me that even in my loneliest moments, I have never been alone.

This year, I have invited 40 friends of ENDOW to share their own Lenten reflections. Each day during Lent, we will post a different reflection, with the hope that it will somehow inspire each of you to think of God in a new, more beautiful way.

Lenten Message from the Pope

Lent is just around the corner! As we prepare our hearts and minds for this cleansing time in our Church. Take a minute to reflect on the Pope's message to us in preparation of lent. --Jamie Gruber, Endow Advisory Board

Dear Brothers and Sisters!

Each year, on the occasion of Lent, the Church invites us to a sincere review of our life in light of the teachings of the Gospel. This year, I would like to offer you some reflections on the great theme of justice, beginning from the Pauline affirmation: “The justice of God has been manifested through faith in Jesus Christ” (cf. Rm 3, 21-22).

Justice: “dare cuique suum”

First of all, I want to consider the meaning of the term “justice,” which in common usage implies “to render to every man his due,” according to the famous expression of Ulpian, a Roman jurist of the third century. In reality, however, this classical definition does not specify what “due” is to be rendered to each person. What man needs most cannot be guaranteed to him by law. In order to live life to the full, something more intimate is necessary that can be granted only as a gift: we could say that man lives by that love which only God can communicate since He created the human person in His image and likeness. Material goods are certainly useful and required – indeed Jesus Himself was concerned to heal the sick, feed the crowds that followed Him and surely condemns the indifference that even today forces hundreds of millions into death through lack of food, water and medicine – yet “distributive” justice does not render to the human being the totality of his “due.” Just as man needs bread, so does man have even more need of God. Saint Augustine notes: if “justice is that virtue which gives every one his due ... where, then, is the justice of man, when he deserts the true God?” (De civitate Dei, XIX, 21).

Read the rest at the Vatican's website. Click here.