LESSON II LENT 2019 Lent is the 40 days before Easter in which Catholics pray, fast, contemplate, and engage in acts of spiritual self-discipline. Catholics do these things because Easter, which celebrates the Resurrection of Christ, is the greatest holy day of the Christian year (even above Christmas) and Catholics have recognized that it is appropriate to prepare for such a holy day by engaging in such disciplines. The reason Lent lasts 40 days is that 40 is the traditional number of judgment and spiritual testing in the Bible (Genesis 7:4, Ex 24:18, 34:28, Numbers 13:25, 14:33, Jon 3:4). Lent bears particular relationship to the 40 days Christ spent fasting in the desert before entering into his public ministry (Mt 4:1-11). Catholics imitate Christ by spending 40 days in spiritual discipline before the celebration of Christ's triumph over sin and death. Fasting is a biblical discipline that can be defended from both the Old and the New Testament. Christ expected his disci...
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