46 Things to do for Lent!

 

"As Lent is the time for greater love, listen to Jesus' thirst...'Repent and believe' Jesus tells us. What are we to repent? Our indifference, our hardness of heart. What are we to believe? Jesus thirsts even now, in your heart and in the poor -- He knows your weakness. He wants only your love, wants only the chance to love you." -Blessed Teresa of Calcutta

'Twas the night before Lent... and we don't know what to do!

If that is you, I hope you find this post helpful!

For Advent, I came up with 40 different things we could do to prepare for the birth of Christ, and decided to do something similar for the upcoming Lenten season.

If you're anything like me, you have a really tough time coming up with what to do for Lent. I've been doing research for the past week or so, and decided to put my favorite ideas into one blog post (while giving credit to the original authors, of course!) as a resource for myself and for others.

1. 40 Bags in 40 Days
2. Choose 40 specific people (or 46, if you want to include Sundays) to pray for, one for each day of Lent.
3. Read about the saints whose feast days fall in Lent. Pray to them and ask for their intercession. 
4.   (from here)
5. Do the CRAK Instagram challenge!
6. Don't eat the last bite of your food (From Lifeteen)
7. Watch The Mission (from Here)
8. Fast from Facebook
9. Pray for those who will enter the Church at the Easter Vigil.
10. Do the Lenten Photo a Day Journey
11. Give up all drinks except water
12. Park at the very back of the parking lot (From Lifeteen)
13. Watch The Way (From Here)
14. Do a liquid fast 1x a week (From Domestic Fashionista)
15. Make your bed every day (From Catholic All Year) - - my bed is lofted, so this is actually a big challenge I will be taking up for Lent!
16. Do an audio retreat
17. Do the Lenten Boot Camp (or parts of it!)
18. Give up apps on your smartphone (From Lifeteen)
19. Watch Bella (From Here)
20. Fast from listening to music in the car (From Domestic Fashionista)
21. Go to mass one more time than you usually do (or even more!)
22. Read Pope Francis' The Light of Faith
23. Don't eat out (From Catholic All Year)
24. Read Pope Francis' Evangelii Gaudium
25. Give up your bed and sleep on the floor or the couch (From Lifeteen)
26. Give up texting and call whomever you need to talk to (From Lifeteen)
27. Watch The Song of Bernadette (From Here)
28. Give up TV and movies (or one of the others)
29. Do a daily Examination of Conscience. (I use Mea Culpa, an app from Apple)
30. Pray the Divine Office Daily (There are some great apps out there you can use on a smart phone or tablet... I love Laudate! It's also F R E E!)
31. Fast on more than just the required days
32. Give away 10 shirts, 2 pairs of pants, and a pair of shoes (From Lifeteen)
33. Read Pope Francis' Message for Lent 2014
34. Pray Lectio Divina
35. Make a list of forty people who have impacted your life, and write each one a letter (From Lifeteen)
36. When you wake up, jump out of bed, kiss the floor, and learn humility (From Lifeteen)
37. Wake up at a specific time every morning (From Catholic All Year)
38. Do Bob Rice's Forty Day Spiritual Workout. I use the iPhone app, but you can also sign up to receive daily devotions sent to your email right here!
39. Give up using the facebook and twitter apps on your phone or iPad and only check when you are at a computer.
40. Wear the same 4 outfits for all of lent (From Lifeteen)
41. Fast from wearing any stretchy pants (From Catholic All Year)
42. Everyday do 20 (or 100) pushups and offer it up for someone who’s sick (From Lifeteen)
43. Clean your house (or dorm, or bedroom, or bathroom!) every week (From Catholic All Year)
44. Leave a post-it with a positive message on it wherever you go (From Lifeteen) (Also... check out Operation Beautiful!)
45. Drink tea instead of coffee (From Catholic All Year)
46. Cut out all screen-time (phone, TV, computer) after dinner (From Lifeteen)

I hope that this is of some use to you! What are you giving up? Let me know in the comments! I'm genuinely curious and want to do a little project with the data I get :)