Lent: Reflect and Renew

Name: Palm Sunday Mass with Archbishop Etienne
Start: 2023-04-02
End: 2023-04-02
Location: St. James Cathedral

Lent 2023 starts on Ash Wednesday, February 22, and lasts until the beginning of the Evening Mass of the Lord's Supper on Holy Thursday. Reflect and renew with us every week throughout Lent as we add new Lenten reflections and prayers.

Lent: a time for conversion

Watch Archbishop Etienne's invitation to join the Universal Church in this season of conversion. After watching the video, scroll down to find ways to reflect and renew your faith this Lent.

For Spanish, click the cc button and choose Espanol.

Fasting and Abstinence Guidelines

In addition to fasting from food, there are other ways to fast that can help us renew our faith in Jesus, like time on our screens and social media. The point is to use whatever we give up as an opportunity to offer it to Jesus and grow closer to him.

What's that dirt on your head? Why can't you eat pepperoni pizza on Fridays? Click here for six common questions Catholics hear during Lent and some answers to have ready.

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Need a Lent refresher? The USCCB does a good overview of Lent here. Or you may want to check out this Lent 101 article.

Weekly Lenten Reflections

Check back every week for a new Lenten Reflection exercise, with prayer, a reading, reflection questions, and petitions.

First week of Lent reflection

This Scripture-based reflection and time of prayer is intended to help you meditate on how to encounter Christ, as you journey through Lent towards Easter.

Begin with prayer

O God, who established the Holy Church
upon the foundation of the Apostles
with Christ Jesus himself as the chief cornerstone, grant that the people gathered in your name may revere you, love you, follow you and grow into the temple of your glory, until led by you, they come at last to the heavenly city. Through Christ our Lord. Amen.

Reading

Mt 16:13-19

When Jesus went into the region of Caesarea Philippi he asked his disciples, “Who do people say that the Son of Man is?” They replied, “Some say John the Baptist, others Elijah, still others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.”

He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” Simon Peter said in reply, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.”
Jesus said to him in reply, “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah. For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my heavenly Father. And so I say to you, you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build my Church, and the gates of the netherworld shall not prevail against it. I will give you the keys to the Kingdom of heaven. Whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven; and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.”

Reflection questions (spend a few minutes on each)

How did you first encounter Christ—really encounter him?
How do we encounter Christ in parish life?

Petitions

To Christ, the Son of the living God, I pray in humble trust:

That during these holy days of Lent, I may meet Christ in new ways.

(Offer other prayer intentions here)

With longing for the coming of God’s kingdom, I offer up the prayer as Jesus taught us: Our Father...

Closing prayer

Almighty, ever-living God, pour out your grace upon the Church and upon our parish
and extend the gift of your help to all who call upon you, that the power of your word and of the Sacraments may strengthen the hearts of your faithful. Through Christ our Lord. Amen.

To read the reflection in Spanish, look for the translation toggle on the upper right of your screen and change the “English” to “Espanol.”

Para leer las reflexiones en español, busque el botón de traducción en el lado derecho superior de su pantalla y cambie de “English” a “Español”.

First Sunday of Lent Gospel readings

Gospel reading for the first Sunday of Lent February 26, 2023.

Matthew 4:1-11

At that time Jesus was led by the Spirit into the desert to be tempted by the devil.
He fasted for forty days and forty nights,
and afterwards he was hungry.
The tempter approached and said to him,
"If you are the Son of God,
command that these stones become loaves of bread."

He said in reply, "It is written:
One does not live on bread alone,
but on every word that comes forth
from the mouth of God."

Then the devil took him to the holy city,
and made him stand on the parapet of the temple, and said to him, "If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down.

For it is written: He will command his angels concerning you and with their hands they will support you, lest you dash your foot against a stone."

Jesus answered him, "Again it is written, You shall not put the Lord, your God, to the test."

Then the devil took him up to a very high mountain, and showed him all the kingdoms of the world in their magnificence,
and he said to him, "All these I shall give to you, if you will prostrate yourself and worship me."

At this, Jesus said to him, "Get away, Satan!
It is written: The Lord, your God, shall you worship and him alone shall you serve."

Then the devil left him and, behold,
angels came and ministered to him.

For all Sunday's readings, click here.

Second week of Lent reflection

This Scripture-based reflection and time of prayer is intended to help you meditate on how God is calling us out of our comfort zones during this time of Lent.

Begin with prayer

Reading

Genesis 12:1-4a

The LORD said to Abram: "Go forth from the land of your kinsfolk and from your father's house to a land that I will show you. "I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you; I will make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you and curse those who curse you. All the communities of the earth shall find blessing in you." Abram went as the LORD directed him.

Reflection questions (spend a few minutes on each)

“Go forth from the land of your kinsfolk.” Can you think of a time when God called you to move out of your comfort zone?
“You will be a blessing.” What does it mean to be a blessing? How is our parish community called to be a blessing to our broader community?

Petitions

For this local Church, and for our parish, that we may be a blessing to all of western Washington: a hopeful, joyful, and
serving community.

For all of us, that during these holy days of Lent, we may respond to God’s call to stretch beyond our comfort zones.

(Offer other prayer intentions here)

Jesus has taught us to call God Father, and so we pray: Our Father...

Closing prayer

Almighty ever living God, we pray that in your Church, the flood of your divine grace
may overwhelm human offences so that your children, being dead to sin, may be reborn to eternal life. Through Christ our Lord. Amen.

To read the reflection in Spanish, look for the translation toggle on the upper right of your screen and change the “English” to “Espanol.”

Para leer las reflexiones en español, busque el botón de traducción en el lado derecho superior de su pantalla y cambie de “English” a “Español”.

Second Sunday of Lent Gospel reading

Gospel reading for Sunday, March 5, 2023:

Matthew 17:1-9

Jesus took Peter, James, and John his brother, and led them up a high mountain by themselves.

And he was transfigured before them;
his face shone like the sun
and his clothes became white as light.
And behold, Moses and Elijah appeared to them, conversing with him.

Then Peter said to Jesus in reply,
"Lord, it is good that we are here.
If you wish, I will make three tents here,
one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah."
While he was still speaking, behold,
a bright cloud cast a shadow over them,
then from the cloud came a voice that said,
"This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased; listen to him."

When the disciples heard this, they fell prostrate and were very much afraid. But Jesus came and touched them, saying, "Rise, and do not be afraid."

And when the disciples raised their eyes,
they saw no one else but Jesus alone.

As they were coming down from the mountain,
Jesus charged them,

"Do not tell the vision to anyone
until the Son of Man has been raised from the dead.

For all Sunday's readings, click here.

Third week of Lent reflection

This Scripture-based reflection and time of prayer is intended to help you meditate on our thirst for Christ during this season of Lent.

Begin with prayer

Reading

Exodus 17:3-7

In those days, in their thirst for water, the people grumbled against Moses, saying, “Why did you ever make us leave Egypt?
Was it just to have us die here of thirst with our children and our livestock?”

So Moses cried out to the LORD, “What shall I do with this people? a little more and they will stone me!”

The LORD answered Moses, “Go over there in front of the people, along with some of the elders of Israel, holding in your
hand, as you go, the staff with which you struck the river. I will be standing there in front of you on the rock in Horeb. Strike the
rock, and the water will flow from it for the people to drink.”

This Moses did, in the presence of the elders of Israel. The place was called Massah and Meribah, because the Israelites quarreled there and tested the LORD, saying, “Is the LORD in our midst or not?”

Reflections questions (spend a few minutes on each)

“In their thirst for water...” What are you thirsty for?
What do you, what do we, “grumble” about?
“Why did you ever make us leave Egypt?” What are we called to leave behind in order to follow God more closely – in our own lives, in our parish, in our Church?
“Is the Lord in our midst or not?” What are signs that the Lord IS in our midst?

Petitions

For the Church, that we may thirst for God alone.

For all of us, that during these holy days of Lent, we may leave behind all that prevents us from following God with our whole hearts.

(Offer other prayer intentions here)

We pattern our prayer on the prayer of Christ, and say: Our Father...

Closing prayer

Almighty ever living God, we pray that in your Church your faithful gathered around the table of the altar celebrating the memorial of the Paschal Mystery may be refreshed by the banquet of Christ’s Word and his Body. Through Christ our Lord. Amen.

Third Sunday of Lent Gospel reading

Gospel reading for Sunday, March 12, 2023:

John 4:5-42

Jesus came to a town of Samaria called Sychar, near the plot of land that Jacob had given to his son Joseph. Jacob’s well was there. Jesus, tired from his journey, sat down there at the well. It was about noon.

A woman of Samaria came to draw water.
Jesus said to her, “Give me a drink.”
His disciples had gone into the town to buy food. The Samaritan woman said to him,
“How can you, a Jew, ask me, a Samaritan woman, for a drink?”
—For Jews use nothing in common with Samaritans.—

Jesus answered and said to her,
“If you knew the gift of God
and who is saying to you, ‘Give me a drink, ‘
you would have asked him
and he would have given you living water.”

The woman said to him, “Sir, you do not even have a bucket and the cistern is deep;
where then can you get this living water?
Are you greater than our father Jacob,
who gave us this cistern and drank from it himself with his children and his flocks?”

Jesus answered and said to her,
“Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again; but whoever drinks the water I shall give will never thirst; the water I shall give will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.”

The woman said to him, “Sir, give me this water, so that I may not be thirsty
or have to keep coming here to draw water.”

Jesus said to her,“Go call your husband and come back.” The woman answered and said to him, “I do not have a husband.”

Jesus answered her, “You are right in saying, ‘I do not have a husband.’ For you have had five husbands, and the one you have now is not your husband.

What you have said is true.” The woman said to him, “Sir, I can see that you are a prophet.
Our ancestors worshiped on this mountain;
but you people say that the place to worship is in Jerusalem.”

Jesus said to her, “Believe me, woman, the hour is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem. You people worship what you do not understand; we worship what we understand, because salvation is from the Jews. But the hour is coming, and is now here, when true worshipers will worship the Father in Spirit and truth; and indeed the Father seeks such people to worship him.
God is Spirit, and those who worship him
must worship in Spirit and truth.”

The woman said to him, “I know that the Messiah is coming, the one called the Christ;
when he comes, he will tell us everything.”
Jesus said to her, “I am he, the one speaking with you.”

At that moment his disciples returned,
and were amazed that he was talking with a woman, but still no one said, “What are you looking for?” or “Why are you talking with her?” The woman left her water jar
and went into the town and said to the people, “Come see a man who told me everything I have done. Could he possibly be the Christ?”

They went out of the town and came to him. Meanwhile, the disciples urged him, “Rabbi, eat.” But he said to them,
“I have food to eat of which you do not know.” So the disciples said to one another,
“Could someone have brought him something to eat?”

Jesus said to them,
“My food is to do the will of the one who sent me and to finish his work. Do you not say, ‘In four months the harvest will be here’? I tell you, look up and see the fields ripe for the harvest. The reaper is already receiving payment and gathering crops for eternal life,
so that the sower and reaper can rejoice together. For here the saying is verified that ‘One sows and another reaps.’
I sent you to reap what you have not worked for; others have done the work,
and you are sharing the fruits of their work.”

Many of the Samaritans of that town began to believe in him because of the word of the woman who testified, “He told me everything I have done.” When the Samaritans came to him, they invited him to stay with them; and he stayed there two days. Many more began to believe in him because of his word, and they said to the woman, “We no longer believe because of your word; for we have heard for ourselves, and we know that this is truly the savior of the world.”

Alternative Gospel reading is Jn 4:5-15, 19b-26, 39a, 40-42

For all Sunday's readings, click here.

Fourth week of Lent reflection

This Scripture-based reflection and time of prayer is intended to help you meditate on how to experience resurrection and newness of life in Christ, as you journey through Lent towards Easter.

Begin with prayer

Reading

Ephesians 5:8-14

Brothers and sisters:
You were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord.

Live as children of light, for light produces every kind of goodness and righteousness and truth.

Try to learn what is pleasing to the Lord. Take no part in the fruitless works of darkness; rather expose them, for it is shameful even to mention the things done by them in secret; but everything exposed by the light becomes visible, for everything that becomes visible is light.

Therefore, it says: "Awake, O sleeper, and arise from the dead, and Christ will give you light."

Reflection questions (spend a few minutes on each)

“Awake, O sleeper, and arise from the dead.” When have you experienced resurrection in your life?
In Baptism, we died with Christ and were born again with him. How do you experience this newness of life?
What do I/what do we need in order to really live as “children of the light” in our parish, community, world?

Petitions

For the Church, that all who are preparing for baptism at Easter may live the new life of light, love, and service of others.

For all of us, that during these holy days of Lent, we may be renewed in what it means to be baptized.

(Offer other prayer intentions here)

Let us pray as Jesus taught us: Our Father...

Closing prayer

Almighty ever living God, we pray that in your Church the joyful offering of praise may resound with human voices joined to the song of the Angels, and unceasing prayer rise up to you for the salvation of the world. Through Christ our Lord. Amen.

To read the reflection in Spanish, look for the translation toggle on the upper right of your screen and change the “English” to “Espanol.”

Para leer las reflexiones en español, busque el botón de traducción en el lado derecho superior de su pantalla y cambie de “English” a “Español”.

Fourth Sunday of Lent Gospel reading

Gospel reading for the fourth Sunday of Lent, March 19, 2023

John 9:1-41

As Jesus passed by he saw a man blind from birth. His disciples asked him, "Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?" Jesus answered, "Neither he nor his parents sinned; it is so that the works of God might be made visible through him. We have to do the works of the one who sent me while it is day. Night is coming when no one can work. While I am in the world, I am the light of the world." When he had said this, he spat on the ground and made clay with the saliva, and smeared the clay on his eyes, and said to him,"Go wash in the Pool of Siloam" —which means Sent—. So he went and washed, and came back able to see.

His neighbors and those who had seen him earlier as a beggar said, "Isn't this the one who used to sit and beg?"

Some said, "It is, " but others said, "No, he just looks like him." He said, "I am."
So they said to him, "How were your eyes opened?"

He replied, "The man called Jesus made clay and anointed my eyes and told me, 'Go to Siloam and wash.' So I went there and washed and was able to see." And they said to him, "Where is he?" He said, "I don't know."

They brought the one who was once blind to the Pharisees. Now Jesus had made clay and opened his eyes on a sabbath. So then the Pharisees also asked him how he was able to see. He said to them, "He put clay on my eyes, and I washed, and now I can see."

So some of the Pharisees said, "This man is not from God, because he does not keep the sabbath."

But others said, "How can a sinful man do such signs?" And there was a division among them. So they said to the blind man again,
"What do you have to say about him, since he opened your eyes?" He said, "He is a prophet."

Now the Jews did not believe that he had been blind and gained his sight until they summoned the parents of the one who had gained his sight. They asked them,
"Is this your son, who you say was born blind? How does he now see?"

His parents answered and said, "We know that this is our son and that he was born blind. We do not know how he sees now, nor do we know who opened his eyes. Ask him, he is of age; he can speak for himself." His parents said this because they were afraid of the Jews, for the Jews had already agreed
that if anyone acknowledged him as the Christ, he would be expelled from the synagogue. For this reason his parents said,
"He is of age; question him."

So a second time they called the man who had been blind and said to him, "Give God the praise! We know that this man is a sinner."

He replied, "If he is a sinner, I do not know. One thing I do know is that I was blind and now I see." So they said to him, "What did he do to you? How did he open your eyes?"

He answered them, "I told you already and you did not listen. Why do you want to hear it again? Do you want to become his disciples, too?"

They ridiculed him and said,
"You are that man's disciple;
we are disciples of Moses!
We know that God spoke to Moses,
but we do not know where this one is from."

The man answered and said to them,
"This is what is so amazing, that you do not know where he is from, yet he opened my eyes. We know that God does not listen to sinners, but if one is devout and does his will, he listens to him. It is unheard of that anyone ever opened the eyes of a person born blind.
If this man were not from God,
he would not be able to do anything."

They answered and said to him,
"You were born totally in sin,
and are you trying to teach us?"
Then they threw him out.

When Jesus heard that they had thrown him out, he found him and said, "Do you believe in the Son of Man?" He answered and said, "Who is he, sir, that I may believe in him?" Jesus said to him, "You have seen him, the one speaking with you is he." He said, "I do believe, Lord," and he worshiped him.

Then Jesus said, "I came into this world for judgment, so that those who do not see might see, and those who do see might become blind."

Some of the Pharisees who were with him heard this and said to him, "Surely we are not also blind, are we?" Jesus said to them,
"If you were blind, you would have no sin;
but now you are saying, 'We see,' so your sin remains.

Alternative Gospel reading: JN 9:1, 6-9, 13-17, 34-38C

Click here for all Sunday readings.

Reflect and Renew

Lent calls us to conversion through the three pillars of prayer, fasting and almsgiving. Below are resources and inspiration to help.

Lenten prayers

Help with prayer during Lent:

Read this article from Northwest Catholic about committing to prayer during Lent:

This Lent, risk prayer

The Hallow app has a #Pray40 Lent Challenge that guides you in daily prayer. You can find the Hallow app on the app store on your mobile device. To learn more, go to:

https://hallow.com

Stations of the Cross:

Pray the Stations of the Cross, led by Father Toups from Ascension Press. In this video, Father Toups narrates each station, drawing us into prayer and reflection.

Go to the Vatican website to find different Way of the Cross meditations said every year in Rome since 1991, with the most recent led by Pope Francis.

Vatican Way of the Cross website

2005 stations with Pope Benedict XVI

Lenten fasting and almsgiving

For something different this year, check out Busted Halos' unique "Prayer, Fast, Give" calendar this year which gives you a daily challenge each day of Lent. Click here to check it out.

Fasting:

Suggestions for fasting from Northwest Catholic:

Fasting from sin--the never-ending Lenten challenge

Suggestions for fasting from National Catholic Register:

What to give up for Lent: 40 Lenten Resolutions

Almsgiving:

Almsgiving reflection from Northwest Catholic:

Becoming more human through almsgiving

Consider helping our brothers and sisters around the world overcome hardships, hunger and malnutrition with Catholic Relief Services' Rice Bowl. Learn more and consider donating at https://www.crsricebowl.org/.

Resolutions and reflections

Whether you are planning ahead or need a reset, it's never too late to start or re-energize your efforts to grow closer to Jesus this Lent.

Help with Lenten resolutions:

Create a spiritual 'game plan" to deepen your relationship with Christ this Lent

Sign up for daily reflections:

Bishop Robert Barron's daily Lent reflections:

https://www.lentreflections.com/

The Hallow app has a daily #Pray40 Lent Challenge that guides you in daily prayer and reflections. You can find the Hallow app on the app store on your mobile device. To learn more, go to:

https://hallow.com

Dynamic Catholic's Best Lent Ever offers short, daily videos to inspire your faith during Lent:

https://www.dynamiccatholic.com/lent/best-lent-ever.html

If you haven't already started, consider following Father Mike Schmitz's Bible in a Year in which he walks you through the entire Bible in 365 episodes, providing commentary, reflection, and prayer along the way. You can start any time and listen at your own pace.

Sign up for the daily Mass readings:

Pray with God’s Word this Lent! Get the daily readings sent to your email each morning. Click here to sign up for your free subscription from the USCCB.

¡Ore con la Palabra de Dios en esta Cuaresma! Reciba las lecturas diarias enviadas a su correo electrónico cada mañana. Regístrese aquí para su suscripción gratuita de USCCB:

Resources for parishes and schools

Share this Lent web page with your parish and school community. To make it easy, use the digital images and banners at the link below for your bulletins, emails and web pages. Make sure to link them to archseattle.org/lent.

2023 Lent images and assets for parishes:

Click here for English

Click here for Spanish

Check out Lent Communications Ideas for Parishes, Schools and Ministries, which includes:

A "how to" communications ideas for all your digital channels with suggested text.
Weekly Lenten themed social posts and images you can easily post on your parish, school or ministry's Facebook and Instagram pages, or just share posts from Archdiocese of Seattle Facebook and Instagram at @ArchdioceseofSeattle. Don't forget to tag us when you post!

Also check out the other Lenten resources on this Lent page for your parish or school, especially the small faith groups during Lent.

Resources for families

Small faith groups during Lent

The Archdiocese of Seattle created a new five-week small group reflection guide, “Reflect and Renew, Encountering Christ this Lent,” which includes Scripture readings, prayer and reflections.

Click here for English and Spanish versions of the guide, which you can print and fold into a booklet.
Click here for single-page version in English and Spanish.

Other suggestions:

Creating a Culture of Encounter: A Guide for Joyful Missionary Disciples from V Encuentro. Format: digital and printed, in English and Spanish

Use these Sunday Gospel video reflections to learn about Catholic Relief Services’ work around the world and how we are called to see the face of Christ in our sisters and brothers in need:

From the Archdiocese of Seattle's Criminal Justice Ministry:

Use this Lenten educational packet called “Who Do You Say That I Am.” It features three sessions that parishes and schools can facilitate during Lent to break open the issue of mass incarceration in the U.S. Click here for the packet.

Lenten encouragement

Finding yourself losing momentum or motivation this Lent or veering off track from your Lenten resolutions? Here is some encouragement to help.

Fasting: Connecting to joy

How can fasting fill us with joy? It just makes me hungry and cranky.” Learn how fasting can bring joy and the different ways we can fast. Click to read more from Northwest Catholic

The hard work of Lent

"Lent is a “hard thing.” An entire season of hard things, in fact. Fasting and sacrifice. Generosity, perhaps when we don't want to be generous. A season for prayer, even (and especially) when we don’t have much to say." Click to read more from Northwest Catholic

Really praying in Lent

“I wish I could pray better” or “I don’t know how to really pray.” Read about how prayer is about a relationship with the Lord. Click to read more from Northwest Catholic

Holding out until the end

We start Lent with resolutions but can be easily discouraged, especially when the culture and daily life continually distract us. "We can take heart that Jesus, our Lord and Savior, has gone before us in seeing trials and challenges through to the end." Click to read more from Northwest Catholic

Easter Sunday celebrates the Lord's resurrection from the dead and his victory over death. Join Archbishop Etienne for Easter Sunday Mass. ...

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Lent and Easter liturgies with Bishop Elizondo

Lent and Easter liturgies with Bishop Schuster

Stations of the Cross

This video features images of the Stations of the Cross from parishes around the Archdiocese of Seattle. Take a couple minutes to watch and reflect on how as Catholics, we all unite to walk with Jesus through His Passion.

Play Video

Small Group Lenten Reflection Guide

The Archdiocese of Seattle created a five-week small group reflection guide, “Reflect and Renew, Encountering Christ this Lent,” which includes Scripture readings, prayer and reflections. Use this for your family or faith group

Single page guide in English and Spanish

Printable booklet in English and Spanish

Add Lenten inspiration to your social feed

Follow the Archdiocese of Seattle on Facebook and Instagram by clicking the icons below or looking us up on Facebook and Instagram at @ArchdioceseofSeattle.