Thought about Lent at sacred Heart School

What is God pulling at you to change? How does God want to use you to make the world better?

Leading up to Lent, the children took the time to think deeply about the ways in which they are tempted to sin, beginning with an examination of consciousness. They were asked the questions: Do I pout? Do I talk back? Do I share my things, time or gifts willingly? Am I unmotivated to help around the house? Do I leave a mess for others? Do I put my best effort into my work or do I just get by? Do I have a bad habit? Am I over eating sugar or snacks? Do I spend too much time in front of a screen?

These are big questions but as we all know the intention is to be better humans; to seek a more disciplined, heaven worthy, path to travel in our time on Earth. During Lent, we are asked to pray to God to protect us from temptation and the false promises of the devil. We stumble, we trip, we might even lose sight, but failure is not an option. We must get back on our Lenten trail and fight. How? Prayer, fasting and almsgiving, of course. We all know that is what Lent is all about. It is because without them, we will surely lose our way and miss the point of Easter. We are all in this Lent together.

Here are some thoughts for children and adults about the big three:

Prayer- At SHS, we gather every morning and afternoon to pray together and share our prayer needs with each other. It is a time to talk about our Lenten journey and to be reminded of our daily call to holiness. The students learn about Jesus and His life in the classroom and we come together for Mass and Holy Eucharist on Friday and with our families on Sunday. We hope this inspires your children to walk with Jesus and to feel His love and protection all day.

Fasting- What are you specifically fasting from this Lent? Is it sugar? Or gossip? Arguing? Judgement? Not loving yourself? Social media? Over indulgence? Talking too much?

Almsgiving- Do you complain when you should be patient? Are you avoiding ways that you could be helping? Are you overlooking someone’s kindness? Do you expect people to serve you or do you pitch in without complaining? Are you listening without interjecting yourself? Are you taking care of the people God puts on your path? Do you go out of your comfort zone to be friendly and helpful?

Oh sweet Lent! There is just so much we can get better at. One day, one prayer, one kindness, one thoughtful act at a time!

God bless,

Anne Atkin, principal