THE LENTEN SEASON
Lent, which is a forty-day period of
fasting and reflection before Easter, begins on Ash Wednesday, February 27. It
is meant to be a time of soul searching, reflection and repentance that prepares us for the joy of Easter. Just as Jesus,
Who after His baptism and the accompanying miracle of the descent of the Holy Spirit and the voice from heaven went into the
wilderness for forty days, we now, after receiving our Epiphany of Who He is, are driven to reflect upon who we are and how
we might be more like Him. Of course, the end of that reflection is that we cannot on our own.
So, He provided a way for us through His death and resurrection. That is why Lent ends in the joy of Easter.
Yet, let’s not overlook the importance
of this time of self-denial, reflection and what it can do for us. The questions the Lenten Season asks us and the answers
we provide to those questions are important.
1) What are we willing to “give up” or fast
for our Lord?
He does not need our fasting, but we
need the discipline! In early times Christians would give up the eating of meat
for Lent. (That is why the festival the day before Ash Wednesday was called “Carnival”, which is Latin for “farewell
to meat”!) This question leads us to see how valuable the things of Spirit are in relation to the things of form. Do
we really walk after the Spirit or after the flesh?
2) Who am I?
If I think too highly of myself, then
I am living under the control of my ego and Edging God Out. If
I cannot not see my value to God and my place as a unique creation of God, then I will miss, not only His love for me, but
being a channel of His love to others. The time of Lent is a good time to reflect
and put God in His rightful place in my life, myself in my correct place with God and others and, as Jesus did, put the devil
in his place!
3) How do I get to where I need to be?
If we don’t ask and reflect on
this question we will miss the true joy of Holy Week and Easter in which we are reminded that Jesus CROSSED the chasm between
God and man, destroyed the separation (death) that kept us from God’s abundant life and showed us the way!
We don’t normally associate Lent with any kind of joy. That is sad. To retreat into the wilderness with Jesus
MUST be a good, and in the end, a joyful thing. Anything that helps us grow God-ward can only make us better for others and
ourselves. Don’t overlook the blessings of Lent. May it lead you inward, upward and onward!
Blessings,
Fr. Barrett
