The Sunday before Easter is known as Palm Sunday. It celebrates Jesus' arrival in Jerusalem for the Jewish festival of Passover.

Jesus came to a small village near Jerusalem. He told two of His disciples, "Go into that town, and near the entrance you will find a colt that has never been ridden. Untie the colt and bring it back. If anyone asks you what you are doing, tell them that the Lord needs the colt and that He will return it later."

The two did as Jesus said, and soon returned with the colt. Then the disciples laid their garments on the colt like a saddle, and Jesus sat on the colt and began to ride.

As Jesus entered Jerusalem, people lay their coats and garments across the road before Him. Others spread palm branches they had cut from the nearby trees. A joyful parade followed Jesus as He rode the young colt through Jerusalem. The celebration continued as the crowd waved and shouted praises.

"Hosanna! Hosanna!" they cried. "Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest!"
And when he was coming into Jerusalem, all the city was moved, saying, Who is this?
And the multitude said, This is Jesus the prophet of Nazareth of Galilee.
Matt 21: 1-11

Lent offers us all a very special opportunity to grow in our relationship with God and to deepen our commitment to a way of life, rooted in our baptism. In our busy world, Lent provides us with an opportunity to reflect upon our patterns, to pray more deeply, experience sorrow for what we've done and failed to do, and to be generous to those in need.

Lent serves as our annual invitation to come closer to God. It provides a time to look at our lives and ourselves, not so we may criticize ourselves more harshly but so we can identify the obstructions that keep us from God. What keeps us from feeling the presence of the divine in our every day? How do we hide from God, and why? Lent gives us a chance to look at such obstructions and to move them gently away so that we can come closer to the Love that gives us life, the Love whose triumph we will celebrate on Easter morning.

Lent is not only about giving up stuff its about taking stuff on aswell.
Some suggestions on how you can improve your relationship with God this lent:

Instead of watching 2-3 hours of telly in the evening, take one hour where you do something else. Maybe spending an hour talking to God, going for a walk and seeing the beauty that God has created all around you. Visiting someone who you know would love to see you or popping to the shops for an elderly person in your area.
Instead of moaning when your parents ask you to do something, bite your tongue and offer it up to God.

Let us know what your giving up for Lent and how its going for you!!!!

Into the hillside country Mary went
Carrying Christ, and all along the road
The Christ she carried generously bestowed
His grace on those she met.
She had not meant to tell she carried Christ.
She was content to hide His love for her.
But about her glowed such joy that into stony hearts love flowed,
and even to the unborn John, Christ's grace was sent.

Christ in His Sacrament of love each day
Dwells in my soul a little space and then
I walk life's crowded highway, jostling men
who seldom think of God.
To these I pray that I may carry Christ
For it may be
Some would not know of Hi except through me.

By Ruth Mary Fox