Although there are less than three weeks until the high holiday of Easter, religious leaders are not trying to rush through Lent, the holy season leading up to the celebration of Jesusโ resurrection.
โLent is a feast that is celebrated by a lot of mainline Christian ฤhurches today and it consists of 40 days,โ said Archbishop G. Augustus Stallings, founder of Imani Temple African American Catholic Congregation. โForty is a biblical connotation for a period of spiritual preparation to celebrate a bigger event.โ
Stallings, who severed from the Roman Catholic Church more than three decades ago, referred to Lent as a penitential season that goes beyond specific Christian denominations.
Lent consists of prayer, fasting and almsgiving, a time when people feel compelled to do more than just abstain from a particular food or activity.
Stallings said in the past he used to give up things like cookies and candy but that was more about symbolism than substance.
โWhat I desire during the Lenten season is to give of myself to others who are searching for their way out of darkness, trying to emancipate people from mental slavery.โ
Leonard Manning, a local business leader who often attends Church of the Resurrection in Burtonsville, Maryland, explained he was taking the Popeโs Lenten advice about helping others.
โInstead of giving up something for Lent, do something good for somebody,โ Manning explained.
Ed Shields, 60, a retired federal worker who attends Our Lady Queen of Peace in Southeast Washington, shared how heโs approaching this Lenten season.ย ย
โI have given up sodas and things like that, but I have a different take on Lent,โ Shields told The Informer. โYou have to be careful that Lent it’s not just a ritualโฆ To me, Lent is a year-long thing.โ
Dr. Cherie Ward, director of the Jim Vance Media Academy at Archbishop Carroll High School, told The Informer she is also making sacrifices this season.
โFor Lent you are supposed to give something that pains you to give up or can’t do without and for me it’s shopping. For Lent I am not purchasing anything,โ Ward said.
Ron Taylor, a veteran journalist, said observing Lent is not a struggle at all.
โI use it as a time to impose discipline with some things. Lent is a time for renewal. When you have something that needs to be addressed, (like speaking bad language),โ Taylor explained. โI do it because this is a time of renewal.โ
Delonte Gholston, pastor of Peace Fellowship Church in Northeast, said while he didn’t grow up celebrating Lent, he got a new perspective after he attended Fuller Theological Seminary in California.
โOne of my assignments was to plan an Ash Wednesday service,โ Gholston said. โThe biggest gift of Lent was the opportunity to meditate on our fragility as human beingsโฆ It is very humbling for all of us to think about the fact that we all have an expiration date.โ
Gholston explained that Lent offers lessons about the realities of life to carry beyond the penitent holy season.
โA message for us in this day and age is to know your assignment and to be humble because you are not going to be around forever.โ