Ash Wednesday, can you believe it? We just finished celebrating Christmas and New Year's, and yet time marches on. LENT is a special time in the church. For some of us, it is time to return to activities we are familiar with. Perhaps some of us may attend Mass during the week, spend more time in prayer, refrain from certain foods we like, or refrain from gossip. We may give a little more in the collection basket, give it to a charity of choice, or, better still, give some of our precious time to someone who needs our presence. All things we are familiar with doing.
Can LENT take on a new look this year? I’ve been thinking about this for a month and have decided to share it with you. If we are truly living the Gospel values, then LENT is a continuation of developing our relationship with God; hopefully, it is a little more deliberate during these next forty days.
"Jesus lived His whole life as Lent.” Jesus’ life embodied the Spirit of Lent. So, I started thinking about the three pillars of Lent: Prayer, Fasting, and Almsgiving. I think Jesus lived each day of His life like that.
We know that Jesus prayed both as a young child and as an adult. He was a faithful Jew and thus performed all the customary prayers and rituals. Jesus’ life was marked by constant prayer. We hear that Jesus often went away to pray. We hear of the forty days in the desert. Prayer wasn’t an event for Him; it was His lifestyle. He prayed before major decisions, prayed for others, prayed in suffering, prayed before miracles, and prayed in secret.
When we look at fasting, Jesus not only fasted from food but also from judgments, gossip, harsh words, and physical comfort. We know he fasted forty days in the desert before He began His public ministry. For Him, fasting was about living a life of simplicity, humility, and obedience. He did all to accomplish God’s will and for the good of others.
Jesus’ life was a radical form of Almsgiving (Selfless Love). The gift of Himself in the Eucharist is a perfect example. He gave his time to be with the poor, the sick, the outcast, and the forgotten. He healed the wounded and comforted the broken-hearted. And the greatest act of generosity – He gave His life for us!
So, I realized that LENT for us is a concentrated season, whereas Jesus practiced LENT all the time. It is safe to say that LENT is 40 days, whereas Jesus lived 33 years of unceasing prayer, wholehearted fasting, and total self-giving. Simply put, “Jesus didn’t just do LENT, He embodied it.”
This week, see not what or how you will DO LENT, but how you will LIVE this LENT. You may find out that you can live out LENT not only for 40 days but 365! Blessings on your LENTEN Journey.
Until next week, Happy Lent
Sister Theresita
