At the Cathedral of St. Peter on Feb. 13, about 170 women prepared for Lent with Mass and a reflection on ‘How to Make a Good Lent’ by Father Stephen St. Jules, rector, and a luncheon.

 

Father St. Jules’ talk called the holy season a time for change, with coming closer to God as the goal. “If I think I can make myself perfect in 40 days, I need to be humbled,” he said, noting that “fasting is not to make us healthy.”

 

Fasting, he said, can be “tailored” to each person based on “what is distancing you” from God — people can fast from gossip, judgment, spending, hoarding, or laziness, for example. “Make it doable,” he said of prayer, “ but make a beginning.”

 

Almsgiving could also include “giving time to other people,” he said.

 

In conclusion, the priest reminded all to participate in the Triduum, those days of Holy Week that “give meaning to Lent.”