A Byzantine Catholic Convert's View of Lent

Lent often is viewed in legalistic terms with regard to obligations to be followed and fasts to be observed but what I have learned as an Eastern Christian is that following the strict observance of Lent is less important then living a life of compassion and love.  All of our acts of asceticism, sacrifices, fasts, attendance at divine services, many prayers in the domestic church...all of it is worthless if we do not love, as Saint Paul has instructed us:

"If I speak in human and angelic tongues but do not have love, I am a resounding gong or a clashing cymbal.
2And if I have the gift of prophecy and comprehend all mysteries and all knowledge; if I have all faith so as to move mountains but do not have love, I am nothing.3If I give away everything I own, and if I hand my body over so that I may boast but do not have love, I gain nothing"(1 Cor 13:1-3 NAB)

It is also vital to know that it is love that assists us to perform the acts required during Lent and by being filled with God's Love in us, which seeks to step out of self-interest, Lenten observance will be life-giving rather then a practice merely rooted in obligation.  The Church seeks to form us as disciples of Christ who observe Holy Lent, with all its attending requirements, out of love of the Savior--who by His Death and Resurrection gives us His love to empower us through grace to follow His commandments and those of the Church.  If you have trouble with fasting and the saying of many prayers and attending the divine services during Lent don't be hard on yourself, for the Lord is merciful, but through love each year try to incorporate more practices out of a desire to come closer to Him--not out of a desire to observe in a legalistic manner the requirements of Lent but rather in order to be healed by the Lord from the many wounds which exist in the soul.

May the Divine Master grant unto you a blessed Holy and Great Lent!