Let’s be honest—Lent is not the most fun time of the year. Sorry to let you down, but it’s not supposed to be! You must push your own limits through prayer, fasting and almsgiving in order to experience spiritual growth. High school makes having a faithful spiritual life difficult; however, there are some simple and extremely beneficial ways to get the most out of Lent.

Prayer: Beginning and ending your day with prayer is a must. Start off the morning by thanking God for another day and ask him to guide your decisions throughout the day. Also, before a big test or presentation, you can simply think in your head, “Come Holy Spirit.” Saying these simple prayers can bring you peace and grace to help you in your endeavors. At night, pray using the four main types of prayer: adoration, contrition, petition and thanksgiving. By doing this, your prayer can become more powerful and complete.

What about praying throughout the day? This is the toughest one for sure because of how busy life can be. Every time you enter a new room or begin a new activity, say to yourself, “God, I offer this time completely to you.” God is not set aside until the evenings or mornings; he is present in everything you do throughout the day.

Study: Reading the Bible is a great way to enhance your Lenten experience. God’s voice is very active in the scriptures. Even if the readings do not make sense as a whole, God can speak to you though a single word or phrase. For high schoolers, it is not always fun to sit down and read the Bible. Luckily, you don’t have to, because there are helpful tools such as the Amazon Alexa, which can read the Bible aloud for you. Whether you read or listen to The Bible, a prayer method called Lectio Divina can help you get the most out of the scriptures. This method involves reading the passage once or twice slowly (Lectio). After this you meditate on what you read and pray about what God is trying to say to you (Meditatio). Lastly, you contemplate (Contemplatio) what God wants you to do with your newfound knowledge and promise to do something in the future (Actio).

Fasting: Out of the three main Lenten observances, this is the most popular among high school students. In addition to not eating certain foods, people also give up luxuries during Lent. It is critical that your fasting challenges you. A weightlifter does not lift the same weight his whole life, rather he or she increases the difficulty to expedite growth. The same is
true with fasting.

Almsgiving: When you hear the word almsgiving, you probably think about money. While that is not necessarily wrong, almsgiving goes far beyond currency. Almsgiving can be accomplished by using your time and talents as well. Volunteer work is always a great option, plus you can get service hours if you need them! Also, you can complete large or menial tasks around the house that you normally would not do.

Many struggle to decide what he or she should give up for Lent. In our very busy and loud world, it is hard to hear God’s call. The solution is silent prayer, especially in Eucharistic Adoration. Here is a list of ten things teens could give up for Lent: social media, coffee, bad jokes, looking at your phone before bed, listening to negative music, snacking, cursing, talking back to your parents, Netflix and procrastination.

Lent is what you make of it! Be open to a challenge this Lenten season. Do not let Lent roll by you. Embrace it, and your relationship with God will flourish.