Moment of the Day
The holy season of Lent presents many opportunities to develop a deeper relationship
with Jesus Christ. Like reuniting with an old friend, we are invited to spend more time
with our Lord as we seek to be more like him.
As a parent, Lent also provides a challenging yet fruitful invitation to deepen your child’s
faith formation. If you are a parent, grandparent, Godparent, uncle or aunt, teacher,
coach, or mentor, Lent offers space to model and guide the next generation to come to
learn and grow during this holy time of the Church’s liturgical calendar.
While googling “meatless” Friday dinner ideas other than pizza requires some minimal
internet searching, the real gift comes in helping your child, while reminding ourselves,
understand and appreciate why we abstain from meat on these special days.
Leading up to Lent, my wife and I, with our two young and beautiful girls (6 and 3,)
explored numerous ways to make this season different. From the “what will you give up”
conversation to “what can you do for others” question, I was amazed to hear my
children, especially my 6-year old, reflect and brainstorm a number of creative and
thoughtful ideas.
Her first-grade teacher made the decision process a little easier, by providing a
worksheet with over 40 daily tasks to animate Lent. On the worksheet, there are
bubbles that include fasting from dessert, cleaning your room, telling someone you love
them, praying for those in need, among many other acts of kindness. Each night, we are
invited to reflect on how one of these tasks was achieved. My daughter then colors in
her completed tasks, and like an elementary version of the Examen, we invite her to
discern and discover where she met God that day and in that act of kindness.
This process connects strongly to an already existing family tradition that occurs around
our dinner table each night. At some point before the meal ends, I say, “so I have a
question….Moment of the Day.” In a dramatic and excited way, I echo those words, and
my two daughters laugh and yell “Moment of the Day” with me as they then compete to
go first. This question is borrowed and adapted from a local sports radio station that
concludes each episode with a recap of their favorite moment from the morning’s
segments.
On a normal day, we will all share something that happened earlier, reflecting on an
event that stood out as the sun set in the distance. During Lent, however, we change it
to a “Lenten Moment of the Day.” Building upon the class activity mentioned earlier, we
share together how this day was different, how and where we saw God and revealed
God’s love to others.
Some nights go better than others, as anyone who ever tried to engage children and
toddlers, but we find peace in the conversation and the invitation to reflect on our daily
encounters of noticing, appreciating, and revealing God’s love.
During Lent, our Churches look and sound different, and we, too, are invited to make
our homes feel as if something has changed. If we remain faithful to this process and
this season, we will soon recognize that we are changing too. As a person, as a parent,
and as a family, Lent invites us to pause, reflect, and remember the love of our God and
our responsibility to reveal that love to others.
James R. Walters is a Catholic author and speaker. His recent books are Batter Up:
Answering the Call of Faith & Fatherhood (2022) and Dreams Come True: Discovering
God’s Vision for Your Life (2020). He also works as the NGO Representative at the
United Nations for the Sisters of Charity Federation. He lives on Long Island with his
wife, Suzie, and daughters, Lily and Shea.
