Lent begins on Ash Wednesday and continues for forty days until Holy Thursday (when the Easter Tridiuum begins). During Lent, we look more intently at our lives, repent of our sins, and offer personal sacrifices of alms, prayer, and fasting as penance for our sins. We spend these days in preparation for the new life of Easter. These prayer celebrations are appropriate for early in the Lenten season.

See Liturgical Calendar–Seasons–Lent for additional background information and prayer.


"Growing in Justice" Prayer Celebration Notes

Focus		Growing in justice through God’s forgiveness
Materials Needed		Prayer table, Bible, candle, purple cloth, music, liturgy
Reading		Phillipians 1:8-11
Music		"Who Calls You By Name," Blest Are We Music CD 5; "Wade in the Water," Blest Are We Music CD 6; "Only This I Want," Dan Schutte (OCP Publications), "Were You There?" Spiritual
Preparation		Before the prayer celebration, have children list the most important things in their lives and discuss them. Then ask them to consider what was most important for Jesus. Should these things be important to them, too? Cover the prayer table with purple cloth. Print out and photocopy the liturgy, "Growing in Justice." Select a leader, Scripture reader, and petition reader.
Adaptation		Invite children to make a collage of pictures of important things in their lives. Have magazines available to supply pictures for the collages.
Additional Materials		"Who Calls You By Name" Blest Are We Music CD 5 Call RCL Benziger at 1-877-ASK-4-RCL (1-877-275-4725). ORDER NUMBER: 0-382-36656-5 "Wade in the Water" Blest Are We Music CD 6 ORDER NUMBER: 0-382-36657-3 Blest Are We Song Book Words and melody for children; contains music for levels 1-8 ORDER NUMBER: 0-382-36617-4 Blest Are We Accompaniment Book Contains accompaniment music for levels 1-8 ORDER NUMBER: 0-382-36618-2