A Parent’s Reflection
“MY CHIEF RESPONSIBILITY WITH MY CHILDREN IS TO CULTIVATE IN THEM A
DISCRIMINATING ATTITUDE ABOUT WHAT THEY HEAR SO THAT THEY WILL BE ABLE TO DISCERN — FOR THEMSELVES —
WHAT IS GOOD, AND WHAT IS EVIL, AND TO DESIRE THE GOOD, FOR HERE IS TRUE FULFILLMENT AND TRUE FREEDOM.”
When asked to write an article about what we do in our family to prepare for Pascha, my initial reaction was to decline for I felt vaguely uncomfortable writing on such a subject. It is my feeling that Lent is, by definition, more a time of doing than of talking.
But on second thought, I decided to go ahead. I think that there are legitimate questions and problems all Orthodox parents have who sincerely desire to keep Lent and instruct their children in its meaning. And this includes priestly families as well as lay, for there is no special Lent for rectories as opposed to “normal” families! I think that these common questions naturally call for a common discussion and sharing and it is in that vein that I share my thoughts.
LENTEN GOALS
First is the whole reality of Lent as such. I think it is very important to approach Lent not as some period of “religious intensity” as opposed to some other period that is not so “religious.” READ MORE
