{"id":12082,"date":"2021-02-16T15:57:38","date_gmt":"2021-02-16T20:57:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cnewa.org\/ca\/?p=12082"},"modified":"2021-02-17T09:33:38","modified_gmt":"2021-02-17T14:33:38","slug":"people-look-east-great-lent-begins","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cnewa.org\/ca\/people-look-east-great-lent-begins\/","title":{"rendered":"People, Look East: Great Lent Begins"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

On Sunday evening, Christians of the Eastern traditions who follow the Gregorian calendar began to observe Great Lent \u2014 40 days of prayer, penance, abstinence and fasting in preparation for the celebration of the Passion, Death and Resurrection of Jesus.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Christians observing the Byzantine tradition, Catholic and Orthodox, avoided meat not just on Fridays, but for much if not all of Lent. Dairy products, such as milk and cheese and sour cream, are eschewed as well \u2014 all forms of denial to help discipline oneself and focus on things spiritual rather than of the flesh. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Great Lent is a time of intense prayer, personal and public, when Christians are called to make sacrifices and give from their want. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

But as with all things undertaken by human beings, imperfect as we are, the ideal is rarely accomplished. Years ago, a wise Greek Catholic priest<\/a> admitted that the observance of Great Lent was \u201cuneven,\u201d except perhaps for the elderly: <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe\u2019re all working on perfection so there\u2019s no expectation that we are perfect,\u201d said Father Ted. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cPart of being a Christian is to keep working on it.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

And so, we are called to keep working on it. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In this time of COVID, in a hurting and broken world exhausted from quarantines, social distancing, partisan rancor and fear, let us enter a time focused on \u201cworking on\u201d our own imperfections. Let us ask the Lord to help us understand him more deeply, to seek his forgiveness and merciful love, and to work together in healing our broken world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Happy Lent!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Michael J.L. La Civita is CNEWA\u2019s Communications Director<\/em>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

On Sunday evening, Christians of the Eastern traditions who follow the Gregorian calendar began to observe Great Lent \u2014 40 days of prayer, penance, abstinence and fasting in preparation for the celebration of the Passion, Death and Resurrection of Jesus. Christians observing the Byzantine tradition, Catholic and Orthodox, avoided meat not just on Fridays, but … Continued<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":61,"featured_media":12083,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2767,1924],"class_list":["post-12082","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-people-look-east","category-lent"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nPeople, Look East: Great Lent Begins | CNEWA Canada<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/cnewa.org\/ca\/people-look-east-great-lent-begins\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"People, Look East: Great Lent Begins\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"On Sunday evening, Christians of the Eastern traditions who follow the Gregorian calendar began to observe Great Lent \u2014 40 days of prayer, penance, abstinence and fasting in preparation for the celebration of the Passion, Death and Resurrection of Jesus. Christians observing the Byzantine tradition, Catholic and Orthodox, avoided meat not just on Fridays, but … Continued\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"CNEWA Canada\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/cnewacanada\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2021-02-16T20:57:38+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2021-02-17T14:33:38+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/cnewa.org\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2021\/02\/46-2_oma_3.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1800\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1200\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Michael J. La Civita\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@cnewac\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@cnewac\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Michael J. La Civita\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cnewa.org\\\/ca\\\/people-look-east-great-lent-begins\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cnewa.org\\\/ca\\\/people-look-east-great-lent-begins\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Michael J. La Civita\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cnewa.org\\\/ca\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/7944644ca6eb0740b984679ea893bd81\"},\"headline\":\"People, Look East: Great Lent Begins\",\"datePublished\":\"2021-02-16T20:57:38+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2021-02-17T14:33:38+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cnewa.org\\\/ca\\\/people-look-east-great-lent-begins\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":279,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cnewa.org\\\/ca\\\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cnewa.org\\\/ca\\\/people-look-east-great-lent-begins\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cnewa.org\\\/ca\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/2\\\/2021\\\/02\\\/46-2_oma_3.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"People Look East\",\"Lent\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-CA\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cnewa.org\\\/ca\\\/people-look-east-great-lent-begins\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cnewa.org\\\/ca\\\/people-look-east-great-lent-begins\\\/\",\"name\":\"People, Look East: Great Lent Begins | CNEWA Canada\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cnewa.org\\\/ca\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cnewa.org\\\/ca\\\/people-look-east-great-lent-begins\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cnewa.org\\\/ca\\\/people-look-east-great-lent-begins\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cnewa.org\\\/ca\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/2\\\/2021\\\/02\\\/46-2_oma_3.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2021-02-16T20:57:38+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2021-02-17T14:33:38+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cnewa.org\\\/ca\\\/people-look-east-great-lent-begins\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-CA\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/cnewa.org\\\/ca\\\/people-look-east-great-lent-begins\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-CA\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cnewa.org\\\/ca\\\/people-look-east-great-lent-begins\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cnewa.org\\\/ca\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/2\\\/2021\\\/02\\\/46-2_oma_3.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cnewa.org\\\/ca\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/2\\\/2021\\\/02\\\/46-2_oma_3.jpg\",\"width\":1800,\"height\":1200,\"caption\":\"Worshipers light candles in Bethlehem\u2019s Church of the Nativity, following its reopening after Palestinian authorities eased pandemic restrictions. (photo: Musa al Shaer\\\/AFP via Getty Images)\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cnewa.org\\\/ca\\\/people-look-east-great-lent-begins\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cnewa.org\\\/ca\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"People, Look East: Great Lent Begins\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cnewa.org\\\/ca\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cnewa.org\\\/ca\\\/\",\"name\":\"CNEWA Canada\",\"description\":\"\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cnewa.org\\\/ca\\\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cnewa.org\\\/ca\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-CA\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cnewa.org\\\/ca\\\/#organization\",\"name\":\"CNEWA Canada\",\"alternateName\":\"Catholic Near East Welfare Association\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cnewa.org\\\/ca\\\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-CA\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cnewa.org\\\/ca\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cnewa.org\\\/ca\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/2\\\/2019\\\/11\\\/CNEWA-brand-logo.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cnewa.org\\\/ca\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/2\\\/2019\\\/11\\\/CNEWA-brand-logo.png\",\"width\":1000,\"height\":1000,\"caption\":\"CNEWA Canada\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cnewa.org\\\/ca\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.facebook.com\\\/cnewacanada\\\/\",\"https:\\\/\\\/x.com\\\/cnewac\",\"https:\\\/\\\/www.instagram.com\\\/cnewa1926\\\/\",\"https:\\\/\\\/www.youtube.com\\\/user\\\/TheCNEWA\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"name\":\"Michael J. La Civita\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"People, Look East: Great Lent Begins | CNEWA Canada","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/cnewa.org\/ca\/people-look-east-great-lent-begins\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"People, Look East: Great Lent Begins","og_description":"On Sunday evening, Christians of the Eastern traditions who follow the Gregorian calendar began to observe Great Lent \u2014 40 days of prayer, penance, abstinence and fasting in preparation for the celebration of the Passion, Death and Resurrection of Jesus. Christians observing the Byzantine tradition, Catholic and Orthodox, avoided meat not just on Fridays, but … Continued","og_site_name":"CNEWA Canada","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/cnewacanada\/","article_published_time":"2021-02-16T20:57:38+00:00","article_modified_time":"2021-02-17T14:33:38+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1800,"height":1200,"url":"https:\/\/cnewa.org\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2021\/02\/46-2_oma_3.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Michael J. La Civita","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@cnewac","twitter_site":"@cnewac","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Michael J. La Civita","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/cnewa.org\/ca\/people-look-east-great-lent-begins\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/cnewa.org\/ca\/people-look-east-great-lent-begins\/"},"author":{"name":"Michael J. La Civita","@id":"https:\/\/cnewa.org\/ca\/#\/schema\/person\/7944644ca6eb0740b984679ea893bd81"},"headline":"People, Look East: Great Lent Begins","datePublished":"2021-02-16T20:57:38+00:00","dateModified":"2021-02-17T14:33:38+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/cnewa.org\/ca\/people-look-east-great-lent-begins\/"},"wordCount":279,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/cnewa.org\/ca\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/cnewa.org\/ca\/people-look-east-great-lent-begins\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/cnewa.org\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2021\/02\/46-2_oma_3.jpg","articleSection":["People Look East","Lent"],"inLanguage":"en-CA"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/cnewa.org\/ca\/people-look-east-great-lent-begins\/","url":"https:\/\/cnewa.org\/ca\/people-look-east-great-lent-begins\/","name":"People, Look East: Great Lent Begins | CNEWA Canada","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/cnewa.org\/ca\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/cnewa.org\/ca\/people-look-east-great-lent-begins\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/cnewa.org\/ca\/people-look-east-great-lent-begins\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/cnewa.org\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2021\/02\/46-2_oma_3.jpg","datePublished":"2021-02-16T20:57:38+00:00","dateModified":"2021-02-17T14:33:38+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/cnewa.org\/ca\/people-look-east-great-lent-begins\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-CA","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/cnewa.org\/ca\/people-look-east-great-lent-begins\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-CA","@id":"https:\/\/cnewa.org\/ca\/people-look-east-great-lent-begins\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/cnewa.org\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2021\/02\/46-2_oma_3.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/cnewa.org\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2021\/02\/46-2_oma_3.jpg","width":1800,"height":1200,"caption":"Worshipers light candles in Bethlehem\u2019s Church of the Nativity, following its reopening after Palestinian authorities eased pandemic restrictions. (photo: Musa al Shaer\/AFP via Getty Images)"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/cnewa.org\/ca\/people-look-east-great-lent-begins\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/cnewa.org\/ca\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"People, Look East: Great Lent Begins"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/cnewa.org\/ca\/#website","url":"https:\/\/cnewa.org\/ca\/","name":"CNEWA Canada","description":"","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/cnewa.org\/ca\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/cnewa.org\/ca\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-CA"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/cnewa.org\/ca\/#organization","name":"CNEWA Canada","alternateName":"Catholic Near East Welfare Association","url":"https:\/\/cnewa.org\/ca\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-CA","@id":"https:\/\/cnewa.org\/ca\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/cnewa.org\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2019\/11\/CNEWA-brand-logo.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/cnewa.org\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2019\/11\/CNEWA-brand-logo.png","width":1000,"height":1000,"caption":"CNEWA Canada"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/cnewa.org\/ca\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/cnewacanada\/","https:\/\/x.com\/cnewac","https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/cnewa1926\/","https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/user\/TheCNEWA"]},{"@type":"Person","name":"Michael J. La Civita"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cnewa.org\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12082","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cnewa.org\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cnewa.org\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cnewa.org\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/61"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cnewa.org\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=12082"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/cnewa.org\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12082\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":12085,"href":"https:\/\/cnewa.org\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12082\/revisions\/12085"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cnewa.org\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/12083"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cnewa.org\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12082"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cnewa.org\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=12082"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}