Lent 2023

*Ash Wednesday and Good Friday are obligatory days of fasting and abstinence for Catholics. In addition, Fridays during Lent are obligatory days of abstinence.

For members of the Latin Catholic Church, the norms on fasting are obligatory from age 18 until age 59. When fasting, a person is permitted to eat one full meal, as well as two smaller meals that together are not equal to a full meal. The norms concerning abstinence from meat are binding upon members of the Latin Catholic Church from age 14 onwards.

The foundational call of Christians to charity is a frequent theme of the Gospels.  During Lent, we are asked to focus more intently on "almsgiving," which means donating money or goods to the poor and performing other acts of charity.  As one of the three pillars of Lenten practice, almsgiving is "a witness to fraternal charity" and  "a work of justice pleasing to God." (Catechism of the Catholic Church, no. 2462).  

-U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops
 

Shared Pregnancy, Mother Teresa House, Greater Lansing Food Bank, Loaves and Fishes, and our parish St. Vincent dePaul Society are among the local charities in our area.