Florida Catholic | Season of Lent

Season of Lent: a time of holiness

FATHER JOHN MARK KLAUS, TOR | SPECIAL TO THE FLORIDA CATHOLIC

Published: 02.01.08

Click here for Diocese of Venice Lenten Regulations.

VENICE | What is our view of Lent? Is it a season to simply endure or is it life-changing?

Although it comes every year, Lent is never the same. We are different people this year than we were last Lent. So much has gone on in our world and in our personal lives that has changed us.

We are meant to continue changing during this holy season. Lent is the preparation for the celebration of Easter, the heart of the paschal mystery. It is a time to meditate on the passion and suffering of Christ, and to look forward to his resurrection.

The word “Lent” comes from the Anglo-Saxon word “Lencten” meaning spring. It also has the same root as the word “lengthen.” During Lent, we go from the darkness and death of winter to the light and new life of spring. It is an opportunity for spiritual growth.

Lent is a communal retreat during which we can be renewed and transformed. It is a time to look deeply at ourselves and reflect on what is inside us spiritually. It is a time to assess where our lives are, where we should be and where we are ultimately headed.

The Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy describes Lent as having both a baptismal and penitential character. In the early church, the entire community joined the elect in baptismal preparations. Today, Lent continues to be a time for the elect to prepare for baptism at the Easter Vigil, but it is also a time for baptismal renewal for the whole faith community.

Repentance — the turning away from sin and back to God — is also emphasized during the 40-day season of Lent, which begins on Ash Wednesday, Feb. 6 this year, and ends on the Thursday of Holy Week, March 20.

Jesus took 40 days in the desert to pray and fast before ministering to others. Satan tempted Jesus three times, but Jesus rebuffed these attacks.

The Catechism of the Catholic Church describes Jesus as “the new Adam who remained faithful just where the first Adam had given in to temptation.”

Jesus also does what Israel failed to do. “In contrast to those who had once provoked God during 40 years in the desert, Christ reveals himself as God’s servant, totally obedient to the divine will,” the catechism continues. “Jesus’ victory over the tempter in the desert anticipates victory at the Passion, the supreme act of obedience of his filial love for the Father. … By the solemn 40 days of Lent, the church unites herself each year to the mystery of Jesus in the desert.”

The season of Lent should be a conversion experience that brings us closer to God. It is a time to purify ourselves through prayer, fasting and almsgiving.

PRAYER

Prayer is the raising of one’s mind and heart to God or the requesting of good things from God, as the catechism teaches. Prayer is that process of listening to and responding to God’s daily call. Listening to God is first in this definition. God calls us daily, but do we listen to his voice? Do we take the time to listen to him or are we too busy or distracted?

Henri Nouwen says, “A life of prayer is a life with open hands to be led by God even to places we would rather not go.” It is a trusting in God in our prayer. We pray to build our relationship with God.

FASTING

Fasting is biblically powerful and Christ-like. Like prayer, we fast to grow closer to God. Many Scriptures talk of fasting. Fasting can help to purify us and helps us to have a greater openness to God’s spirit. Lent is a time to fast from sin and to feast on the word of God. We can welcome the peace of God into that inner space where sin has been rooted out. Pope St. Leo the Great said, “As the body is nourished with food, so too the soul is refreshed with fasting to grow closer to God.”

There are many ways of fasting. The most popular way is fasting from food. It’s a way of emptying ourselves for God to fill us. Fasting helps us to put food back in perspective; we are stating that food is not the most important thing in our lives. Even hunger pains can remind us how God needs to be the center of our lives.

Our fasting should be related to our personal need for transformation. We need to choose the type of fasting that truly relates to how we need to grow spiritually. We can fast from words, criticism, negativity, gossip and nagging. We can fast from certain behaviors, such as apathy, indifference, hardness of heart, self-centeredness and jealousy. We can fast from those inner torments no one else knows about — our fears, arrogance, negative thoughts, near-despair, doubts and sadness. We can even fast from noise so we can listen more attentively to the Lord and choose God more completely.

We shouldn’t fast in order to impress others or ourselves with how holy we are. We don’t use fasting as a bargaining chip with God for something we want. We don’t fast to lose weight. We fast to empty ourselves so that we can more readily surrender to what God wants us to do in life. Fasting should also make us more aware of our brothers and sisters in need.

ALMSGIVING

Alms are not just money that we should give to God. We should also give of ourselves in service to the church and to our neighbor in society. During Lent, we can use our time and talents to help others in ways we may not have done before.

We can help out at a soup kitchen, give to a food pantry in the area and donate clothing to the poor. Giving time to our family is another form of almsgiving. We can give of ourselves by having a date time with our spouses, children or friends and giving them our undivided attention.

How will we spend our 40 days and what differences will this Lent make when Easter comes this year?

Lent is a time for us to strive for holiness. This season, let us use the three staples of Lent — prayer, fasting and almsgiving — as our guides. Let us not only prepare ourselves for Easter, but also help others and ourselves to feel God’s love and presence through our Lenten sacrifices. Have a blessed and happy Lent!

Father Klaus, Third Order Regular Franciscan, is director of the Office of Worship for the Diocese of Venice. Some information in this article was taken from the Catechism of the Catholic Church, the Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy and CatholicOnline.org.

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