How We Can Serve the Church in Lent

by Admin · February 22, 2023

The annual Lenten Appeal is an institution in the Southern African Catholic Church. Fr Hugh O’Connor explains why it is so important that Catholics support the Lenten Appeal with renewed energy — for the Church and ourselves.

When we receive our ashes on Ash Wednesday, February 22, we will enter the season of Lent. For more than half a century, the annual Bishop’ Lenten Appeal has been an institution in the Southern African Catholic Church, and it is hard to think of an area of Church life that does not benefit from the Lenten sacrifices of Catholics across the region.

During Lent the predominant colour is purple, from the priest’s vestments which represent the traditional colour of repentance. The Lenten Sacrificium posters, the mite boxes, stickers and the envelopes all remind us that this is a time of penance in preparation for the celebration of the Resurrection of Jesus at Easter.

The Southern African Church has and continues to rely on missionaries from outside its borders as well as funds from other countries.

A challenge to each one of us is to reflect on how the local Church can become more self-sufficient. This would mean more local vocations to the priesthood and religious life as well as a greater financial contribution for the work of the Church.

The Catholic churches and institutions that we enjoy today were built on the sacrifices of past generations. It is time now that we do something for ourselves and for future generations.

Three pillars of Lent

The three pillars of the penitential season of Lent are prayer, fasting and almsgiving.

Prayer is making more space in our lives for God. Personal prayer and community prayer are both important. Prayer offers us an opportunity to grow in our relationship with God and to deepen our commitment to a way of life, rooted in our baptism. Prayer provides us with an opportunity to reflect upon our patterns and sins. We should pray more deeply, experience sorrow for what we have done and failed to do, and to be generous to those in need.

Fasting is not about going on a diet, of simply giving up the extras. Lent is about being aware of what I use and how I use my time and energy. It is about reflecting on how I can sacrifice my likes and desires so that I can replace my sometimes selfish wants and needs with service to God and to others. I want to live simply so that others may simply live.

The Lenten call to Almsgiving means making other people’s needs my own. The Lenten Appeal collection is a way to do this. The money collected from the annual Lenten Appeal goes to help the wider Church community in a number of ways.

What does the Lenten Appeal collection support? It directly and indirectly supports works of charity in dioceses involving feeding schemes, elderly in need and vulnerable children; educational outreaches including catechesis; the training of priests; Justice and Peace; youth ministry; specialised ministries such as those serving the deaf; as well as the offices helping to coordinate this work in the Southern African Church.

Thank you for all your support in 2022

Visit the SACBC Facebook page or sacbc.org.za during this Lent and tune into the daily Lenten reflection.

Fr Hugh O’Connor is the secretary-general of the Southern African Catholic Bishops’ Conference.