Lent 2026 - How can we keep lent in our communities?
by Jahannes
In first Newsletter of February, Fr Phil posed a thoughtful and deliberately open question:
How could we keep Lent in our communities this year?
It is not a question that calls for a quick or uniform answer. Rather, it invites reflection — personal, shared, and prayerful. Lent has never been only about individual discipline, nor about following a fixed set of practices. From the earliest days of the Church, it has been a communal season, shaping how Christians live, worship, and respond to the world together.
Perhaps the value of Fr Phil’s question lies precisely in its openness. Instead of telling us what Lent should look like, it asks us to consider how it might be lived — here, now, and together.
Lent as a shared season
Lent returns each year with familiar themes: prayer, fasting, and almsgiving. Yet these practices are not ends in themselves. They are invitations — ways of creating space for God, for one another, and for growth. Fr Phil’s question gently shifts the focus from what I do to how we live as a community during the the forty days of Lent.
Rather than beginning with resolutions, Lent might begin with attentiveness: noticing where we are, what we need, and how we are called to respond.
Prayer: what might it look like for us?
Prayer is central to Lent, but its form is not prescribed. Fr Phil’s question invites us to reflect:
What helps us to pray — alone or together?
Where might we create space for quiet, listening, or reflection?
Are there moments when shared prayer could strengthen parish life without becoming burdensome?
Prayer need not be elaborate to be real. Sometimes it begins simply by slowing down.
Fasting: what creates space rather than pressure?
Fasting has always been part of Lent, yet it is often misunderstood as an end in itself. Fr Phil’s question encourages a deeper reflection:
What habits or patterns crowd our lives and leave little room for reflection?
What might we step back from in order to be more attentive — to God, to others, to ourselves?
How might simplicity, rather than severity, shape our Lenten practice?
Seen this way, fasting becomes less about restriction and more about freedom.
Almsgiving: where are we being invited to notice?
Almsgiving is traditionally associated with generosity, but it can also begin with attentiveness. Lent invites us to ask:
Who around us may be struggling quietly?
Who might feel overlooked, isolated, or unsure of their place?
How might small acts of kindness or generosity shape our community?
Almsgiving does not always announce itself. Often it grows through ordinary, faithful gestures.
Mission and outreach: what questions does Lent raise?
Fr Phil’s question also opens space to think about mission and outreach — not as a programme, but as a posture:
What needs are visible in our parish or local community?
How might we become more aware of existing efforts and support them?
Are there small, practical ways we could respond, even temporarily, during Lent?
Lent does not require that everything be resolved within forty days. Sometimes it is enough to begin noticing and asking.
Longer-term commitments: is Lent a time for discernment?
Lent is traditionally a season of preparation rather than permanence, yet it can be a valuable time for discernment. Fr Phil’s question allows room to consider:
Are there ways of serving or volunteering that call for reflection rather than immediate action?
What gifts or skills might be offered more fully over time?
How might Lent help us listen for where we are being drawn, without rushing to commit?
What begins as reflection during Lent may find its expression later, in Easter or beyond.
A parish of many communities
St Charles is a parish made up of people from many backgrounds — those born locally, those who have settled here from other countries, those newly arrived, those working, studying, or finding stability.
Fr Phil’s question naturally invites reflection on welcome:
How visible is welcome in everyday parish life?
How easy is it for newcomers to find information or make connections?
How might awareness and kindness shape a sense of belonging?
These are not questions with quick answers, but they are worth holding.
Holding the question open
Fr Phil has not offered a list of expectations — and that may be the point. Lent is not about ticking boxes, but about creating space: space to listen, to reflect, and to respond honestly.
Perhaps the most faithful way to keep Lent 2026 is simply to stay with the question — allowing it to inform prayer, conversation, and awareness over time. If Lent helps us to become a little more attentive to God, a little more generous toward one another, and a little more open to those around us, then it will already be doing its quiet work.
But what do you think Lent might look like in our communities this year?