Lent is a 40-day period (it's actually a 46-day period but Sundays are kinda exempted, bringing the day count to 40) set aside every year by the Christian community for fasting, abstinence and penance. It starts on Ash Wednesday and ends on Easter Sunday. The actual date for the beginning of Lent varies from year to year depending on what day Easter falls on. This year the Lent period is from February 14 (Ash Wednesday) to April 1(Easter Sunday).
The significance of the 40 days is in remembrance of Jesus' 40 day fast in the wilderness in preparation for his three year ministry . On the first day of Lent which is Ash Wednesday the dried palm leaves from the Palm Sunday celebration of the previous year are crushed and used to draw a cross on the forehead. This is to remind us of our mortality;"From dust we came and to dust we shall return". This puts us in a mood of reflection, We remember that there is a life after death which we ought to prepare for.
Lent is also a period of giving. In the course of fasting from food the meals we miss are meant to be given out to less privileged members of society.
My suggestion is that we make the spirit of Lent a daily routine, why wait till the period of Lent to fast and pray or to give or to remember your mortality. As Christians we ought to lead a life of constant examination, we ought to be conscious of our every action on a daily basis. The idea of Lent should be a lifestyle and not a once-in-a-year activity.
Stay Blessed.
