Lenten Reflections

 

18 February 2026 – Ash Wednesday

 

Did you know that on any given day a human being makes an average of 35,000 choices. That’s 2,000 choices in an hour or one choice every two seconds. Our brains are constantly moving. We are challenged always with choosing to do what we think may be best for us, as opposed to what God knows to be best for us.

Lent is a time for us to slow down and look within ourselves to identify those things that keep us from saying “yes” to God instead of saying “yes” to me, myself and I. Last Sunday, we heard in the book of Sirach that before us is life and death, good and evil, and whatever we choose will be given to us. It’s our choice. No matter how old we are, it is never too late to correct the course, to reconsider, and return to the Lord.

That is why, as we begin the discipline of Lent today, we are invited to do three things: pray, fast and give alms. As dames and knights of the Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem, our promises to support the church in the Holy Land present us an extraordinary opportunity to pray, fast and give alms while fulfilling our promise.

Prayer puts to death pride as prayer acknowledges our dependence on God. When we pray for others, this is especially true. This Lent, make a commitment to pray for the intentions of the families living in the Holy Land.

Fasting puts to death physical desire allowing us to focus on what is truly nourishing in our life. Allow yourself this Lent to put aside distractions and learn more about the needs of the people who struggle in the Holy Land and the persecution they face day-to-day.

Almsgiving puts to death greed and our desire to take and not give. Consider giving a weekly Lenten offering to the church in the Holy Land. The Eastern Lieutenancy has created an online giving page to make your gift easy. Your gift will be directed to the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem to help address the needs of the people in the Holy Land where it is needed most.

What will you do this Lent? Will you pray more for your personal intentions this Lent or for the intentions of others? Will you give up something that will help your personal waistline, or will you make a sacrifice and focus on others? Will you give to a cause because it benefits you in some way, or will you give to something that is greater than you from the money you plan to use on yourself?

The ashes placed on our heads in the shape of the cross today, the same cross stitched on our capes, remind us of what God did for us, how his cross destroyed death. These ashes remind us how we are called to respond to the gift of eternal life we have been offered by being like our God who sacrificed himself for the many.

Join your fellow dames and knight of the Eastern Lieutenancy this Lent in praying, fasting and almsgiving to benefit the peoples and churches of the Holy Land.