Resources For Lenten Retreats And Disciplines

The following resources may be helpful in developing a Lenten retreat or a program for the devotional life of members in your denomination

A Lenten Form for Self-Examination Below is a form for directed prayer either during a Lenten retreat or for personal self-examination. Adapt as needed. Pride Putting self in the place of God as the center and objective of our life. Pride is the refusal to recognize our status as creatures, dependent upon God. Irreverence Deliberate neglect of God's worship, or contentment with a perfunctory participation in it. It is manifested in cynicism toward the holy or use of Christianity for personal advantage. Sentimentality Satisfaction with pious feelings and beautiful ceremony without striving for personal holiness. Distrust Refusal to recognize God's wisdom and love. Undue worry, undue anxiety, scrupulosity, or perfectionism. Attempts to gain or keep control of our life by spiritualism, astrology, undue timidity, or cowardice. Disobedience Rejection of God's known will. The refusal to learn God's nature as revealed in Holy Scripture. Breaking confidence by irresponsibility, treachery, and the unnecessary disappointment of others. Breaking legal or moral contracts. Impenitence Refusal to search out and face up to our sins, or to confess them before God. Self-justification by believing our sins to be insignificant, natural, or inevitable; by refusing to apologize; by being unwilling to forgive ourselves. Vanity Failure to credit God and others for their part in our lives. Boasting, exaggeration, ostentatious behavior, undue concern over "things." Arrogance Being overbearing, argumentative, opinionated, obstinate. Resentment Rejection of talents, abilities, or opportunities God and man give us. Rebellion, hatred of God or man. Cynicism. Envy Dissatisfaction with our place in God's order of creation. Manifests itself in jealousy, malice, and contempt for others or others' "things." Covetousness The refusal to respect the integrity of other creatures, expressed in the accumulation of material things to prove self-worth, the use of others to personal advantage, or in the quest for status and power at the expense of others. Avarice Manifested in inordinate ambition or domination of others. The waste of natural resources or personal possessions. Extravagance or living beyond our means. It is also manifested in undue protection of our "things." Stinginess. Gluttony Overindulgence of natural appetites for food and drink, and by extension the inordinate quest for pleasure or comfort. Manifests itself in intemperance and lack of discipline. Lust Misuse of sex. It includes unchastity, immodesty, prudery, and cruelty. Lust does not recognize marriage as the God-ordained relationship for sexual intercourse. Sloth The refusal to respond to our opportunities for growth, service, or sacrifice. It includes laziness in spiritual, mental, or physical duties. Neglect of family. Indifference to injustice or the world's suffering ones. Neglecting the needy, lonely, or unpopular. Sloth also involves spiritual failure. It fails to give attention to the maturing of one's family and/or self. It fails to grasp and live out the missionary enterprise of the Christian life. A Worksheet for the Development of a Lenten Rule of Discipline Below is a rule of discipline that may be altered to suit the needs of your congregation. This discipline orders the spiritual experience of Lent and provides a disciplined order for congregants to follow. It is based on The Book of Common Prayer. Other books of prayer or devotion may be substituted for The Book of Common Prayer. A Word about Lent Lent is a time to do spiritual inventory. Below are many time-honored disciplines to help you in this season of growth. Sundays are not counted as part of the Lenten season. Sundays are feast days and never fast days. Sundays at any time of the year, including Lent, celebrate the Resurrection of our Lord Jesus. Prayer in Public I ____ will ____ will not worship God on the Lord's Days of Lent. I plan to worship in public on one or more weekdays of Lent: ____ yes ____ no. If "yes," please know that at St. Mark's we worship with the Daily Office of Morning Prayer on Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Fridays, at 8:30 a.m. We celebrate the Holy Eucharist each Wednesday at 7:00 a.m. Prayer in Private I plan to pray daily: ____ yes ____ no. If "yes" here is the time I commit myself to be at prayer _________________________ . Here is the place I will pray _________________________ . I plan to pray one or more of the Daily Offices from The Book of Common Prayer: ____ yes ____ no. I know how to use The Book of Common Prayer for praying the Daily Offices: ____ yes ____ no. If "no," I will ask _______________ for instruction. I will do that ____ (time) ____ (day). Here are the Daily Offices I am committed to pray: _______________ Morning Prayer, p. 75 _______________ Noon Office, p. 103 _______________ Evening Prayer, p. 115 _______________ Compline, p. 127 Fasting Definition of fasting: to eat or drink no calories or diet beverages. Definition of abstinence: To not eat or drink specific types of food or beverage; for example, meat. Fasting and abstinence are good disciplines which may be used in combination. Some days are good for one discipline and other days for the other. Here is a food or food group I will not eat during Lent ____________________ (except on Sundays). On ____ M ____ T ____ W ____ Th ____ F ____ Sat. I will not eat solid food until sundown. I will eat vegetarian all through Lent: ____ yes ____ no Here is another aspect of my food intake I wish to discipline this Lent: _____________________________________________ . Study Here are books I want to read this Lent: _____________________________________________. I need to ask ______________________________ for suggestions. I will do that (date/time) _________________________ . I plan to devote ____ minutes per day to study. Mercy In Scripture, mercy, almsgiving, fasting, and prayer are sometimes tied together. Lent is a time to inventory our generosity. I plan to pray, and ask God to show me a person toward whom I can show mercy: ____ yes ____ no. I plan to give $____ to _____________________________________________ (list persons or organizations). Exercise I plan to pay attention to my body this Lent: ____ yes ____ no. Here is how:_____________________________________________ . I need a physical: ____ yes ____ no. Scripture I plan to read the Lenten readings from The Book of Common Prayer: ____ yes ____ no. Turn to page 951 in the Prayer Book, and find the words "Ash Wednesday." There you will find the readings for the next Wednesday, Ash Wednesday. Each day during Lent move down the page one day. If you do not understand these instructions, whom will you ask for clarification? _______________ Solitude Definition: A time spent in silence away from the demands of people and events. I will dedicate myself to solitude on the following schedule _______________ . Here is where I will seek the solitude: _____________________________________________ . Thanks, but no thanks Frankly, good rector, I am so exhausted, so weary, so depressed, that I need to be free from discipline. My gift to myself is to do just that. For me, that will free me for a Holy Lent: ____ yes ____ no. I will call another Christian to discuss this: ____ yes ____ no. I will call _________________________ on __________. Three Kinds of Fast for Lent The material below may be reproduced in a Lenten bulletin to provide direction for the kind of fast congregants may want to experience. The Normal Fast. Involves abstaining from all forms of food, but not from water, and must be distinguished from the absolute and partial fast. It seems clear that this is the type of fast Jesus did most often. In Luke 4:2 we are told Jesus "ate nothing" but not that he drank nothing. After that fast we are told he "was hungry" but not that he was thirsty. The normal fast may also include fasting from sleep, called "a watching" (2 Cor. 6:5; 11:27). The Absolute Fast. Abstaining from eating and drinking (Ezra 10:6; Acts 9:9). It must not be longer than two days and caution must be exercised. This is usually an exceptional form of fasting for exceptional situations. The Partial Fast. (See Daniel 10:3.) Here the emphasis is upon restriction of diet rather than complete abstention. One may abstain from eating certain meals; for example, dinner. One may abstain from eating certain foods and drinking certain drinks; for example, meat and coffee. Richard Lobs III