From The Catholic Sentinel by Archbishop John Vlazny, Diocese of Portland, Oregon
When I was a kid, spring cleaning was a big event in our household. The fuel that warmed our homes during winter back then was usually coal. It was not at all as clean a heating system as most of us enjoy today with electricity, gas or oil. Mom and Dad would wash walls, vacuum the carpets, scrub the floors, dust off furniture, clean out the pantry and empty closets. During Lent similar activities are suggested by the church for our own interior castles, our souls. The coals of temptation throughout the year leave their sad residue of sinful behavior. Like the baseball players in spring training, we try to put some discipline into our lives once again and resume habitual behaviors that strengthen us in our struggle with sin and the challenge of virtuous living.
Lent is that 40-day season of preparation for the celebration of the paschal mystery, the passion, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. We begin the observance of this holy season on Ash Wednesday and conclude with the evening celebration of the Lord’s Supper on Holy Thursday. These 40 days bring to mind those 40 days of rain during the flood which Noah and his family survived, the 40 years the Hebrews wandered through the desert on the way to the promised land, and the fast of forty days which Moses, Elijah and even Jesus experienced in the wilderness to prepare them for their ministry.
Our attention turns to two groups of Christians during Lent. First of all we look to the catechumens who have chosen to be baptized at Easter. They will become our elect for the Easter sacraments through the Rites of Election which will take place across the archdiocese in early Lent. Then there are the baptized folks who have wandered away from the church. In our evangelizing mission we are always mindful of those who have strayed. During Lent, in particular, we make a sincere effort to encourage them to return to the life of grace which is nurtured through the church.
Lent is also a season for renewing the grace of our own Baptism. At Easter we profess our baptismal promises all over again. Yes, we do reject Satan. Yes, we do believe in God. Yes, we do believe in the church. During Lent, in order to strengthen our commitment to our baptismal call as disciples in mission, we embrace the disciplines of prayer, fasting and almsgiving. We spend more time with God. We deny ourselves certain pleasures so that we might have more control of ourselves in moments of temptation and live more simply so that others might live. When we share our goods, our money, our talents and our time, we become more mindful of all the people around us who are in need.
This year Lent begins on Wednesday, March 9. Easter will be just about as late as it can be, April 24. Some wonder why we don’t have a stable date for Easter. Many years ago Christians tried to come together about celebrating Easter every year on the second Sunday of April. I was attracted to that proposal. It seemed so orderly and sensible. But right from the beginning, Christians have been stargazers and moon lovers much more than calendar freaks, like many of us. And so the date for Easter is determined by the moon. It always falls on the first Sunday after the first full moon after the first day of spring. For centuries now our celebration of Easter has been determined “by the light of the silvery moon.”
Pope Benedict and some of his top Vatican officials will again be on retreat during the first week of Lent. The Holy Father’s retreat will be led by a Discalced Carmelite priest, Father Francois-Marie Lethel, an author and expert on “the theology of the saints.” The topic of Father Lethel’s reflections will be “the light of Christ in the heart of the church: John Paul II and the theology of saints.” With the Pope we too will have an opportunity to reflect on the lives of saints whose feasts occur during the holy season and whose lives have inspired us on our own journey of faith.
With a Carmelite for his preacher, you can be sure that the Pope will hear a lot about the two Carmelite Teresas, the Spanish nun from Avila and the young French sister of Lisieux.
When we come to church on Ash Wednesday to receive the blessed ashes on our foreheads, the first reading from Scripture will be taken from the Old Testament prophet Joel, who invites us to “rend your hearts, not your garments, and return to the Lord, your God.” Yes, Lent is indeed a season for all of us to come back home, clean up and prepare for the great feast 40 days later. St. Paul will invite us through his second letter to the Corinthians to “be reconciled to God.”
Not only do those who strayed from the church have need to be reconciled to God, so do we. Who among us is without sin? Lent is a time to avail ourselves of the beautiful sacrament of Reconciliation and seek the healing and mercy of God in our minds, our bodies, our whole being.
Finally, through the gospel of St. Matthew, we will be encouraged to do good for the right reasons, not so that people will be impressed, but so that “your Father who sees in secret will repay you.”
Understandably most of us enjoy a little praise now and then. The praise that really matters comes at the end of the journey. Lent mirrors the journey of life. Easter provides a reflection of the eternal glory we all seek in the home of our heavenly Father. We need to keep our minds and hearts focused on the ultimate goal, not the milestones along the way. A holy and wholesome Lenten observance will do much to keep us on the road to glory. God bless.
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