Ten:Ten Newsletter (March 2023)

Have you ever noticed how we like to characterise different months and seasons? For example, January is painted as the longest, bluest month of the year – so much so that ‘Blue Monday’ is a term coined to refer to the third Monday in January. Other months and seasons similarly characterised include February – romance and playfulness due to Valentine’s Day and being the shortest, quirkiest month; and October – pumpkin-spice and all things nice! But these characterisations don’t leave much room for nuance. Even the bluest Januarys will have some light, and the most playful of Februarys will have harder moments. And for most people, October doesn’t consist of endless pumpkin-spice lattes!

This year, the month of March is taken up wholly with the Liturgical Season of Lent. In the Church, Lent is represented by the colour purple, worn by priests and seen on the altar. Purple, like the season of Lent, symbolises a time of prayer, penance and preparation for Jesus’ death on the cross and Resurrection at Easter. It offers a chance for us to reflect on our relationship with God and make a fresh start as the Church focuses on the three pillars of Lent, almsgiving, fasting and prayer – or as children in school will know them, GIVE, ACT, PRAY:

https://www.tentenresources.co.uk/prayers-for-home/parent-newsletter/

But even in this somewhat austere season, there is room for nuance! On the fourth Sunday of Lent, called Laetare Sunday, Catholics are invited to celebrate! ‘Laetare’ is the Latin word for ‘rejoice’ and on this day only, the purple of Lent is swapped for rose pink, symbolising hope and a reminder of what is to come on Easter Sunday. This Sunday is also Mothering Sunday, where historically believers would return to the mother church where they received the Sacrament of Baptism.

This newsletter shares some of the content children will experience in school throughout March and suggests ways for you to engage with them about it. We hope and pray that your Lent will be a time of prayer, penance and preparation, but with lots of opportunities for rejoicing too!