Lent has begun! We are heading into the wilderness, as Jesus did, for 40 days and nights. Our focus is to reflect on our humanity and our dependence on God and spend time drawing closer to him.

How wonderful it is was to begin this Lenten journey on Ash Wednesday in person, being able to gather more freely than we have during the pandemic. It was a real reminder that we are all in it together – so, let us use the rhythm of this beautiful season in the Church’s year to shift our focus and let us encourage one another as we do so: Lent is a wonderful opportunity to lift our hearts and minds above the circumstances and struggles of our lives and “zoom in” for a closer encounter with God, who – in the person of Jesus – came to love us, to heal us, and – indeed – seeks to join with us in all our concerns and our joys.

The three focal points during this time of year – those of prayer, fasting and giving – should aid us in this re-orientation process, I hope that the resources for children and families will be useful to you, and help you to cement family ties, as well as create special moments which can help put everything else into perspective.

As we have the first opportunity in three years to be able to properly celebrate Easter, do consider making a special effort to attend the Easter Triduum. This year, we will be welcoming some families and individuals who wish to become Catholic at the Easter Vigil. Please do pray for them as they prepare for this special moment.

My prayer is that Lent would be a positive time for you, helping you to see that Jesus is right here with you. Allow Him to take the lead and keep your eyes fixed on Him, as you renew your own faith!

If you do need any further ideas and some guidance, please feel free to email me at: bstortfordcatechist@rcdow.org.uk

Sophie Sullivan
Catechetical Coordinator

Lent Family Resources | Easter Family Resources | Adult Resources

Lent Family Resources

As we begin Lent…

  • An encouragement for parents – helping Children with Lent – from Loyola Press
  • Do you need some ideas for what to give up for Lent for children? Here is a good page of ideas
  • A journey through Lent – Use this Lenten Calendar Printable sheet and this Lenten mini figure, that children can colour as they go through each day of Lent, journeying towards our Lord’s resurrection at Easter.
  • Another lovely craft to create as lent begins is this Kids Lent Walk
  • The Lent Cube, from Pflaum Publishing, this is a great way to make each day of Lent special!
  • Burying our alleluias: Fr Peter introduced my children to the concept of physically burying our Alleluias for the duration of Lent. Here is an article explaining why we might choose to do it, from Aleteia. Click on this template for Alleluias, which has a variety for your children to decorate and cut out before they bury them. (suggestion: wrap the Alleluias in a small plastic bag before burying). When my children uncover theirs on Easter Sunday, at the end of these 40 days, they usually find the Alleluia with a treat attached (hint to parents!!)

General Resources

  • Kids craft ideas for Lent – Lacy, from the hugely helpful Catholic Icing website, offers a wide range of activities for children and families
  • Children’s Stations of the Cross – These reflections are short and simple and a good opportunity of building a tradition, during this season, of entering into Christ’s Passion together. Maybe light a candle for each station, or pass a cross around, and choose a response to each reflection which you could say together
  • Alternatively, this lovely book – A Children’s Way of the Cross – is a wonderful resource to use time and time again (this does need to be purchased)
  • Lenten prayer garden – a delightful Lenten idea for the green-fingered! (this also need to be purchased)
  • Children’s meatless meal ideas – If the idea of fasting (beyond giving up something) during Lent is something you’d like to develop, here are some great ideas of changing up family mealtimes on Fridays or special holy days set aside for fasting and abstinence
  • The Examen prayer for children (KS1 and 2) is a lovely opportunity to develop a habit of reflective prayer as a family. This kid-friendly Examen guidance sheet to accompany the prayer.
  • Scriptural way of the cross for teens – an opportunity for your teens to delve deeper into the Lord’s passion. This resource can be prayed alone or even as part of an online small group, with a reading for each station, along with a short prayer and response

Creating a Lenten prayer corner

Consider setting up a small space in your home that might provide a suitable focal point during this season. The word “Lent” is a shortened form of the Old English word Lencten, meaning “Spring Season”. You may like to decorate your prayer corner with signs of spring – buds, leaves, blossom, flowers etc…You may like to make a cardboard cross, as a reminder of the cross we have marked on our foreheads on Ash Wednesday, or include a sheet where you can write your Lenten prayer intentions. You may wish to add photos of your family and deposit on a table, or stick up, any artwork created during Lent…get the whole family involved and it will become a space that provides a unique focus in place of the usual tech or distractions!

You could gather there to think of special people you miss, to reflect on how your Lenten efforts are going, or to pray Lenten prayers, like the Stations of the Cross.

Easter Family Resources

Holy Week

  • Holy Week Explained – an article from Cathfamily, provides great insights into this most holy of weeks and is packed full of fab ideas of things to do as a family to bring this week to life!
  • Holy Week at Home is a resource created to respond to lockdown at Easter in 2020’s lockdown, but can help you make Holy Week a prayerful time in your family in 2022!
  • Holy Week Timeline: download this PDF which lists all the events that took place in the Holy Week with Bible references so that you can read all about them.
Palm Sunday
Maundy Thursday

Here are some more lovely family resources from CathFamily

Create a Last Supper table mat or make unleavened bread and reenact the last supper at home. As well as making flatbread, you could also remember the washing of the feet. Why not invite mum or dad to wash the feet of all the children or have each member of the family wash the feet of another member. This simple act can be a lot of fun, as well as reminding us of this powerful act of service, reminding us of our duty as Christian to humble ourselves and serve others

Good Friday
  • Explanation of Good Friday – click here
  • Stations of the Cross for kids handout – this is a simple colouring and reflection sheet aimed at younger children
  • CathFamily have also written a lovely Stations of the Cross family prayer time, to pray together on Good Friday. My children enjoyed creating – with colouring pages – their own stations of the cross around our house and then lighting a candle at each station. Make this prayer your own!
Holy Saturday/Easter Sunday

Adult Resources

Pray as You Go Lenten Retreat – “Growing Back Better”

An audio Lenten Retreat for each Monday of Lent. The series of reflections is from a Jesuit resource called “Pray As You Go” and are written by Margaret Silf.

Best Lent Ever from Dynamic Catholic

Best Lent Ever are daily reflections from Matthew Kelly and his team for every day of Lent

Lenten musical reflections from The Vigil Project

The Vigil Project is an endeavour to help draw people closer to the Lord in musical form. You can access the music here and on their youtube channel “The vigil Project”. Hopefully you will find the pieces of music uplifting and prayerful. To give you an idea of where the concept of the Vigil Project was born, you can read their mission statement or watch this introductory video.

The Chosen TV Series

This engaging series is an original take on the story of Jesus, as seen through the eyes of those around him. The first two seasons (8 episodes) is the first of it’s kind, being an entirely crowd-funded production. The Chosen aims to also be the first multi-season TV show about the life of Christ (as opposed to a one-off movie) and – because of the huge success globally of the first two seasons – season 3 is already in production. All episodes have been made available, free to view, online. Why not watch a couple of episodes each week in Lent?

See the trailer (unless you want to keep it as a surprise!)

Season 1, episodes 1&2 can be watched here, but the best way to watch all episodes is to download the app or access is via the streaming service vidangel

Bishop Robert Barron

The wonderful Bishop Robert Barron is also offering Lenten Reflections during this season. You can watch a breaking open of the theme – Entering the Desert of Lent. The conversation really starts to pick up at about 2min15secs or you can read the reflections.

Lord,

we thank you for the wonder of media to help us dive deeper into this solemn season. Be with us as we draw closer to you and – in doing so – draw us closer to one another. We thank you for the gift of your very life, given for us. May we discover more of your blessings each day, as we make this journey to the cross and towards the joy of your resurrection

Amen