How to Experience Victory Over Suffering this Lent
Handout for Ash Wednesday.
Description: Evangelizing, faith-building leaflet says: This Lent can be a journey of walking from grief to healing and from anger to peace. Day by day, step by step, Jesus will help you rise above your cross. It will happen in the discovery of the redemptive holiness that comes through the activities of Lent and awaits you in Holy Week. If you make it a priority, you will receive tremendous blessings. In Matthew 6:1-6, 16-18, Jesus gives us a walking staff for this journey. It has three parts. The top section, like a shepherd’s crook, is almsgiving; this is what bends our heavenward heart back to earth as we turn our sufferings into ministries that help others. The middle section is fasting; this is what gives strength to the staff. The bottom of it is prayer; this is what grounds us.
Or see these alternatives for Ash Wednesday:
How healing will your Lent be?
The purifying walk to Good Friday
Ideas for use: Bulletin insert or handout for Ash Wednesday or the Sunday prior or anytime during Lent; hand this out to the many rarely-active Catholics who come to church for ashes. Also great for beginning the Period of Purification in RCIA class.
Idea from a satisfied customer: “Last year, we collected walking canes from beach driftwood and painted them in thirds to represent the fasting, prayers, and almsgiving sections you mentioned. It was very meaningful as well as visually impactful. Thank you for such insightful material.”