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Like any resolution, sometimes our Lenten practices don’t last long. It helps if we surround our best intentions with practices and support to get us past the first week of Lent and beyond. 

Lent is a time of prayer and, therefore, a time of listening. It might be tempting to get frustrated with just sitting there in prayer and not hearing anything. We call Jesus the Word, however, and he speaks. The difficulty is learning how to listen to his voice. The Word spoke to us using words in Scripture, although he speaks now without words, in the still silence.

The Lenten Fish Fry. It’s iconic at this point. It’s almost like Lent and Fish Frys are inseparable — which begs the question: if there’s no Fish Fry at the parish this year, is it even Lent?

There are probably some men you invited to take on Exodus 90 with you this year. Maybe they scoffed at the cold showers, or some of the other iconic disciplines included with a spiritual exercise like Exodus 90.

If we don’t want to take Lent for granted then it might help us to think about why we celebrate it all. Although in English, the word “Lent” comes from the Germanic word for “spring.” Other languages, especially the Romance languages and Latin, describe the season as “the forty.”

We all say too often, “that went by so fast,” or ask, “where did the time go?” The same will happen to Lent unless we make some firm decisions on how to use these forty days well. Here are seven tips for making the most of Lent, and bringing more joy into these coming 40 days.