Lent 2025
LENT: An Invitation to Radical Attention
Lent is an invitation. A sacred pause in the breathless rhythm of our lives. It's a spiritual wilderness, a deliberate stepping away from the noise and into a space of profound listening. Think of it less as a season of deprivation and more as a pilgrimage of the heart.
When we talk about Lent, we're really talking about transformation. Not the self-improvement kind that fills magazine covers, but the deep, cellular change that happens when we dare to look honestly at ourselves and our lives. It's about creating space—space to breathe, to see, to listen.
Why Should You Care?
In a world that constantly demands our attention, Lent whispers an alternative narrative. It asks: What if instead of adding more, we subtracted? What if instead of performing, we became present? What if spiritual life is less about achieving and more about attending?
The traditional practices of Lent—prayer, fasting, and almsgiving—are not arbitrary rituals. They are practices of liberation. Fasting isn't about punishing your body; it's about discovering what truly sustains you. Prayer isn't about perfect words; it's about creating silence where the divine can speak. Almsgiving isn't just charity; it's recognising our fundamental interconnectedness.
What Might You Consider Doing During Lent?
Create Silence Choose one thing that fills your life with noise: social media, constant streaming, background chatter, and let it go. Not as a punishment, but as an experiment in listening.
Practice Radical Attention Each day, spend five minutes truly seeing something; a tree, your own breath, the person across from you. Not analysing, not judging, just seeing.
Give Generously And I don't just mean money. Give attention. Give grace. Give the benefit of the doubt. Notice where you can offer something without expecting return.
Embrace Imperfection Lent is not about becoming perfect. It's about becoming human. Fully, beautifully, messily human.
How can you Join in with what ABC is doing during Lent?
Follow the lectionary readings along with our 'Covenant' Sermon Series
Join the Lent Connect Group
Pray with your hands by making part of the Easter Bouquet (Lenten Prayer Practice)
The Real Secret
The real secret of Lent is that it's not about what you give up, but about what might give itself to you in the space you create. It's an invitation to a different kind of abundance—not of acquisition, but of awareness.
So this Lent, don't should on yourself. Don't create another to-do list. Instead, create space. Listen. Breathe. And trust that something holy is already happening.