Each year the Church observes the 40 weekdays of Lent before Easter to singnify the 40 days of Lent, which precedes Easter is based on two Biblical accounts: the 40 years of wilderness wandering by the Israelites and our Lord's Jesus Christ 40 days in the wilderness at which point He was tempted by Satan.
We participate in abstinence, times of fasting, confession and acts of mercy to strengthen our faith and devotional disciplines. These times are particularly appropriate for spiritual exercises, penitential liturgies and pilgrimages as signs of penance, voluntary self-denial such as fasting and almsgiving, and fraternal sharing (charitable and missionary works).
Lent is about conversion, turning our lives more completely over to Christ and his way of life. That always involves giving up sin in some form. The goal is not just to abstain from sin for the duration of Lent but to root sin out of our lives forever. Conversion means leaving behind an old way of living and acting in order to embrace new life in Christ. For catechumens, Lent is a period intended to bring their initial conversion to completion. The goal of every Christian is to leave Lent a stronger and more vital person of faith than when we entered.
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