-
Dear Parish Family,
Did you get your invitation? Did you R.S.V.P. or not respond at all? What invitation??.. The invitation by Jesus, Our Lord, to walk with him this Lenten season on a spiritual journey through his retreat in the desert, his teachings, his suffering, his death on the cross for our sins and ultimately in his glorious Resurrection on Easter Sunday.
Of course, each day Jesus extends this invitation to us, but, as Christians, the holy season of Lent places a special focus for forty days on a soul-searching level to underscore how our faith forms and supports our daily lives.
Most people identify Lent as ashes and fasting without too much more thought about it. But what exactly does it signify and how does it help us to become better Christians? Unlike most other religious occasions and observances in the Church liturgical year, Lent is a somber undertaking. It reminds us of the phrase popular at fitness centers, “no pain, no gain!”
In this case, it is growing pains. Growing spiritually. Growing compassionately in love to others. Growing closer to Our Lord who commands us to pick up our crosses and follow him. Life is filled with crosses. That is not news. But it is what we do with those challenges and burdens that set us apart and sustain us as believers and followers of Christ.
The Lenten observances are not penalties or archaic rules that continue through the millenniums as Church Tradition. Rather, the frequent practices of prayer, fasting and charity which the Lenten season places great importance upon re-direct us to think outside of ourselves and our daily comfort zones. The term “agape” – pointing outward the love which originates in God and sharing it with others especially the less fortunate – the sick and suffering, the poor and hungry, the oppressed, depressed and addicted, the dying, the isolated, bitter and troubled-hearts.
As we empty ourselves this Lenten season through fasting, through charity and prayer, God pours his divine graces and blessings into us, refilling our souls like the chalice containing the Blood of Jesus Christ, and leading us to become the Christians we are called to be by our baptism into God’s family.
The next forty days are going to pass by whatever we do - or don’t do. Jesus is inviting us to partake in this spiritually-rejuvenating liturgical season of Lent which is unlike any other. Mother Church, the bride of Christ, calls us to use this six-week span of time in a truly meaningful way, in a truly Christ-like way, through prayer, through sober soul-searching, and the frequent use of the sacraments of Reconciliation and Holy Eucharist.
Lent is uniquely both a spiritually solitary quest, yet, it is on a shared path with other Christians, guided by Jesus Himself, to greater love and holiness for all.
It is up to us how we R.S.V.P. to this blessed invitation.
Dcn John Cunningham