There is no doubt: I need the forty days of Lent!
We must examine everyone of our traditions: why does Lent have such staying power? What does the religious imagination grasp in this season of forty days?
The forty days started out as a ‘spring training camp’ for the candidates who were to be accepted by the waters of baptism during the Easter Vigil.
Over the centuries a very strong penitential tone took over and it changed into a season of fasting, prayer and repentance.
Do not be too hard on the practices of your ancestors. They responded to a felt need in their lives. Today we need to rediscover the gifts that Lent offers us.
In our daily lives we all start out with good intentions. It is like getting enough exercise. Good intentions never got us off the couch!
The primary frame of mind that we must begin Lent with is ‘be attentive.’ This is an attitude that is humble: we do not have all our ducks lined up in the spiritual life. Our prayer life has grown soft. We neglect praying over the Scriptures. We are weak on our service to the poor.
The framework of being attentive is recognizing that we do not have the Spirit of God under control. The Spirit of God is moving like a February wind. It does not hit the same side of your face in identical ways. There are new moments of revelation of the presence of God living and working among us. These forty days give us space to sharpen up and recognize the new movements of the Holy Spirit.
There will be new opportunities for prayer and reflection that have not have not encountered before. These forty days give space to give attention to the presence of God in my life and my church. It also allows us to deepen spiritual truths that we already know but come at them with a deeper sense of appreciation. Lent can be very much a time of deepening these spiritual truths.
Lent can extend our charity and justice to the world beyond the walls of our house. It is very much a season of doing charity to the poor and the neglected. Parishioners find it a wonderful season to take off one afternoon each week to visit the nursing home to be a ray of sunshine in the dull days of some many residents. It is the simple hello or brief moment of conversation that can brighten up someone’s day. The corridors of the nursing homes can be very empty. Lent is our time to leave our footprints on the floor and our heart and smile in the hands of our elderly.
Our ancestors in the faith found such gifts in the forty days of Lent. We too must discover its power to help refocus our faith life, deepen our daily prayer and extend our service to the poor.
It is a gift. I need to be open to what the Spirit of God will give me this Lent, 2023.
No comments:
Post a Comment