Lent is a time to reflect on our friendship with God. We move so fast in our life; it is a real challenge to find extra time in our day to stop and think of our spiritual needs. This season, also known as a time of purification and enlightenment helps us to stay focused on our need to be open to God’s grace and to be quiet….to stop listening to the world, to our ego, to our urges and to listen deeply for something more fulfilling. It is also a time of re-commitment to our baptismal promises. We prepare ourselves to become spiritually stronger, by freely purging ourselves of all things that keep us from making good choices. This is not as easy as it sounds.
The most important thing that could come from Lent is a deepening of our experience of God as our Father, Jesus as our Brother, and the Holy Spirit as our comforter. In other words, we come to know Him better, and when we do that, we also come to know ourselves better too. Our faith calls us to a constant conversion experience. Each day I wake up I have the opportunity to live in freedom, or not. Each moment is a choice. Lent becomes a time when we are called to examine all the choices we have been making. Our catechism teaches, "The more one does what is good, the freer one becomes. There is no true freedom except in the service of what is good and just. The choice to disobey and do evil is an abuse of freedom and leads to "the slavery of sin." (Cf. Rom 6:17) (CCC 1733)
Ash Wednesday starts it all off. I always find it refreshing that even although this day is not a holy day of obligation, many Catholics will fill up the church building for at least three different Masses during the day in order to receive their ashes on their forehead. Signs are important. This smudgy ashy mark, seen through our eyes of faith, is a way of reminding us of our physical mortality and our dependence on our merciful and loving God. As the ashes are being placed on our forehead we may hear either phrase: “turn away from sin and be faithful to the gospel” or “remember you are dust and to dust you shall return”. These words are to remind us of our fragility and brokenness. We are in need of our healer and our savior, Jesus Christ.
This particular day, along with every Friday during Lent are days of fasting and almsgiving. We are called to sacrifice and to give more generously to those around us, especially the poor, those not so easy to love, and the vulnerable. We are called to consume less, to live more simply, to follow Jesus into a “desert” experience and learn to rise above temptations. (Matthew 4:2)
In today’s “instant gratification” kind of world, fasting may seem passé. However, every year, I look forward to these forty days. It forces me to slow down and realize how easily I have become attached to material things or to unhealthy relationships. Lent helps me to focus on others, not on myself. In doing so, I can become more fully alive.
What to give up? Whatever we do for lent, we should do it sincerely, after reflection and prayer, and once we decide on what our sacrifice shall be, we should keep it to ourselves. No one else needs to know what we are sacrificing. It is between me and God.
Lent is a way to prepare to enter into our three holiest and most solemn days of the year: Holy Thursday, Good Friday and Holy Saturday (Easter Triduum) which culminates with the biggest celebration of our Christian calendar: Easter Sunday (Resurrection Day).
Finally, remember that God is not in need of Lent. But we are in need of Him. I take time in Lent to strengthen my friendship with my Father, to sincerely apologize for the times I offended Him, to accept the forgiveness he so generously affords me through the sacrament of reconciliation, nourish myself by frequenting our sacrament of Eucharist, spend more time reading scriptures and more time giving to others and a miraculous thing happens… I become more the person I am called to be and I find Jesus truly more present in my life. Easter becomes my reality!
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