February 21st was Ash Wednesday and marks the beginning of our most sacred time of year: The Easter Season.While Advent prompts us to reconcile our everyday experiences with the hope and joy of the coming of the Messiah, Lent prompts us to reconcile our everyday experiences to the reality of the resurrection.
As so many great scholars have asked; “Without the resurrection, what do we have?”
As Christians, we can honestly answer that question: “Nothing.”
Without the resurrection, we have nothing that sets our faith apart from all other faiths and claims. It is the resurrection that proclaims Jesus as Lord and Saviour.
So for six weeks we will prepare ourselves, to the best of our ability, for the reality of Christ’s victory over death. We will fast and pray and attend Stations of the Cross.
These activities mark our faith and form our Catholic identity, but what do they mean? What are they based upon?
Catholics have always been called to abstain from meat, or in some way do penance, on the Fridays of Lent.
Actually, Catholics have always been called to do some form of penance on Fridays throughout the year but that practice gave way, through time, to observance only during Lent.
But isn’t penance a good thing? It is.
And for many Catholics, returning to traditional roots and teachings is becoming more popular. Having witnessed a rise in immorality in entertainment, higher divorce rates, and an overall decline in a Christian worldview has prompted many Baby Boomers to return to the teachings of their parents or grandparents.
More and more families are returning to saying the rosary together and finding time for family dinners. Children’s activities are giving way to family activities that provide a solid catechetical foundation for future generations.
And Friday penance is part of that package.
Penance is recognition of our sinful nature and sinful ways, even on our best days. It doesn’t mean that we deplore ourselves or our earthly existence but simply recognize our need for Christ and His forgiveness.
There is a deep sense of peace when one lives fully in Christ’s salvation. This is why Christ said that it was His peace that He was giving to us.
He fully understood the value of that gift. So, Fridays during Lent are our time to do penance, and while the common practice is to abstain from eating meat, some might make other choices more indicative of sacrifice.
Regardless of what it is that we individually choose to “give up” on Fridays during Lent, it is a wonderful time to offer these sacrifices to Christ.
And, of course, fasting on Ash Wednesday and Good Friday are also ways in which we are penitent. Through fasting we empty ourselves of our own bodily needs and desires to be more fully in union with Christ.
And yet even this cannot compare to what He sacrificed for us. But in whatever small way we can enjoin our sacrifices to His, we are more fully living under His Blood.
Lent is also a time when we are called to pray.
While St. Paul calls us to pray “unceasingly,” Lent is a time where those unending prayers may take a more somber tone. We might find ourselves more interested in “listening” than “asking.” We recognize in our prayers Christ’s ultimate sacrifice for our eternal salvation.
We might want to know, more than ever before, how He is calling us to glorify the Father’s kingdom. Combined with our penance, these prayers become powerful weapons in our earthly existence.
It is also during this sacred time of year that Stations of the Cross services are held, on Friday evenings, throughout Catholic churches around the world.
Very few experiences are as anointed as spending time reliving Christ’s last few hours on earth. Stations of the Cross allow us to shut out the secular world and immerse ourselves in Scripture and in the reality of His last steps.
The beauty of the give and take between priest or deacon and congregation is mesmerizing.
The fluid movements between standing and genuflecting and responding become hypnotic.
The culmination of the service in the dispersing of incense and the presence of the consecrated host centers us, with Christ, as we glory in the knowledge His resurrection.
It is that resurrection that gives us hope and marks the Easter season as the cornerstone of our faith.
May your Easter season be a blessed one as you fast and pray and attend Stations of the Cross.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Disclaimer
No responsibility or liability shall attach itself to either myself or to the blogspot ‘Clerical Whispers’ for any or all of the articles placed here.
The placing of an article hereupon does not necessarily imply that I agree or accept the contents of the article as being necessarily factual in theology, dogma or otherwise.
Sotto Voce