Lent should be a radical season.

We are called, implored, even commanded by the Church, to stop eating foods that we love, take up our little daily Crosses, give more generously, and devote ourselves to more intense prayer. The Lord gives us this beautiful, but difficult season in order to shake us out of our selfish routines and reconcile us with Him, with the Church, with each other, and with ourselves.

This is the vision for Lent, but the reality in our parishes is often a different story. Hundreds of thousands of Catholics in the United States, even the ones sitting in the pews each Sunday, might notice that Lent is rolling around the corner, but never give penance a second thought. Those who do attempt to “give something up” for Lent often use it either as round two of a New Year’s diet plan, or they half-heartedly give up Facebook for a few months. The Lord’s longing cry for us to “Repent!” is all too often mistaken as nothing more than an annual obligation.

Pastors preach on repentance week after week, we offer programs and fish fries and service project opportunities, but what do we do when the majority of parishioners don’t seem to take Christ with them when they leave the parish?

What can we, as parish leaders, do to make Lent into the game-changer that it was meant to be for our parishioners?

Here are three practical ways that your parish can have a truly meaningful Lent:

1. As a parish leader, make a serious commitment to personal holiness.

As the chaplain at the Augustine Institute frequently reminds us, we can never hope to be successful in the mission that God has given us unless we stay close to Him. Our chaplain has reminded us that Lent is the perfect time to recommit to the four essential M’s: daily, quiet intimacy with God in prayer (Mental Prayer), regular recourse to the Sacrament of Confession (Mercy), daily Mass, as often as possible (Mass), and frequent recourse to Our Lady, especially in the Rosary (Mary).

Dom Jean-Baptiste Chautard, in his spiritual masterpiece The Soul of the Apostolate, reminds us that what brings people to conversion is not our efforts, but our holiness:

“The one thing most likely to induce the faithful to lead a really Christian life is precisely the virtue of the one charged with teaching it… In these things, the public has a sort of intuition that cannot be fooled.”

2. Make a parish-wide plan.

This is true in Lenten resolutions and parish-wide strategy: make one plan, and make it doable. It’s tempting to tackle a dozen new initiatives for Lent, but the simplicity of one unified message coming from the parish can be refreshingly simple for busy parishioners to focus on.

A Lent to Remember, our parish-wide study that we’re encouraging parishes to use for Lent, is a simple and effective way to do this. One message, one program, and one thirty-minute video per week that is easily accessible in the home for families to watch together can be used to unite a parish community.

3. Rely on beauty.

It’s just as true during Lent as it is during the rest of the year: modern man is drawn to beauty. If we want to engage our parishioners on the deeper levels of the heart, which is “the place of encounter” with God, then something must pierce through the monotony of daily life to get them to seek God in their hearts (CCC 2563).

Beautiful art is intended to do just that. St. John Paul II said in his Letter to Artists, “Art has a unique capacity to take one or other facet of the message and translate it into colors, shapes, and sounds which nourish the intuition of those who look or listen. It does so without emptying the message itself of its transcendent value and its aura of mystery” (Letter to Artists, 12).

FORGIVEN and SYMBOLON are such powerful resources for parishes during Lent because they “translate” repentance, conversion, and mercy to modern man in such a tangible, beautiful way.

As many of us know from personal experience, when we really encounter beauty, we desire to become part of it. FORGIVEN is filled with the Lord’s cry: repent, enter into the beautiful mercy of Christ throught the Sacrament of Reconciliation. Nothing softens a hardened heart like the grace, mercy, forgiveness, and love of this beautiful sacrament.

When we encounter beauty, we naturally desire to share it with those we love. This is true evangelization – an encounter with the beauty, goodness, and truth of God, and a desire to share this awe-inspiring Love with others.

Conclusion

These three keys are not a magic bullet or a secret formula, because there is no one single way to transform our parishes this Lent. As parish leaders, the Holy Spirit’s voice will be our greatest help in this endeavor. But hopefully these keys open our eyes to the true purpose that God has in mind for our parishes this Lenten season.

Imagine a Catholic community where parish leaders were deeply committed to holiness, where families were united in repentance, where hardened hearts were stirred by beauty, goodness, and truth. This is God’s plan for our communities this Lent.

“‘Yet even now,’ says the LORD, ‘return to me with all your heart, with fasting, with weeping, and with mourning; and rend your hearts and not your garments'” (Joel 2:12).

The Implementation Team at the Augustine Institute is praying for you, your fellow parish leaders, your parish, and your community as we prepare for the Lenten season. Please keep us in your prayers as well.