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Publication Date

5-2024

Keywords

Catholic Education, History of Lent, Rite of Christian Initiation for Adults (RCIA), Sacrosanctum Concilium, Lent

Abstract

In many Catholic high schools, students discuss Lent with a focus on their actions associated with penance, fasting and almsgiving as a self-denial Olympics without understanding the true purpose. This causes students to robotically move through the motions of Lent instead of internalizing it as a period of preparation for Baptism and penance. This paper will propose a program, for the Catholic high school setting, on how to implement the Second Vatican Council’s vision of Lent, as outlined in Sacrosanctum Concilium. The paper begins by exploring the history and development of Lent throughout the centuries. It then examines the twofold characteristics of Lent as outlined in Sacrosanctum Concilium as preparation for Baptism as well as a period of penance. After analyzing the two characteristics in the constitution, I examine how they are operationalized in the Rite of Christian Initiation for Adults (RCIA) into the presentations and Scrutinies. Next, I propose a seven-week Lenten program on how to better implement the Council's vision of Lent at a Catholic high school. This will be implemented by discussing a different theme every week based on the order and content of the presentations and Scrutinies as outlined by the RCIA. This program will refocus students’ Lenten observance as a period of preparation and calls for more research into how to bridge the program into the celebration of Easter. This will lead conversations in the classrooms and halls away from “What are you giving up?” to “How are we refocusing our lives on God?”

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