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+ + + The Richness of Lent + + +
Richness is not the usual word that comes to mind when we think of Lent. We usually associate the words “giving up” when we speak about Lent. For years kids have given up candy during Lent. Young and mature adults give up eating meat on Ash Wednesday, Good Friday and the other Fridays in Lent. On those days we are required to refrain from eating meat. This is called Abstinence.
As a part of sacrifice, there is also fasting. Fasting is required during Lent on Ash Wednesday and Good Friday. Fasting means people between the ages of 21 and 59 can have only one full meal and two smaller meals. Some people fast on more than the days required by the Church. Fasting puts us in touch with the poor and those who must go without food because they have nothing to eat. Fasting helps to bring us closer to God, by letting us focus more on our relationship with him, than on what we are going to eat.
Sacrifice, however, is only one of the elements that make Lent a season of richness. Prayer, Scripture reading, Lenten Whole Community Catechesis, Stations of the Cross, the Sacrament of Reconciliation, Morning Prayers, and Mass are other traditional ways of stretching ourselves during Lent. Just taking a few moments of quiet time, alone with God can have a greater effect on us than a 10-minute power nap. Prayer can help us focus on One greater than ourselves.
Putting all of these elements together shows us the richness and the spiritual value of this great Season of 40 Days. It begins with Ash Wednesday (in 2012, this is February 22). On this day we gather at Mass or Service of the Word and listen carefully to the Word of God calling us to repentance. Ashes are placed on our foreheads to remind us that we are unfinished products of God’s creation. Our life and our future is still in front of us, no matter how short or long a time that may be. We still have time to develop our gifts and talents to be used to build up the Kingdom of God. And we still have time to come to grips with our sinfulness, ask for forgiveness, and be reconciled with God. Facing the sinfulness of our lives can be quite challenging. Honestly confronting ourselves about the wrong choices we have made, the hurt we have caused, the neglect we are responsible for, and the many good things we failed to do helps us to see ourselves more realistically. We need healing and forgiveness for these sins.
We experience the beauty in the richness of Lent as we witness new members taking steps to become members of the Church. Those involved in RCIA show us what faith means to them. It is faith that we many times take for granted. Seeing their faith in various stages of development helps to renew us. Listening to the Scripture readings at Mass can enliven in us what we have perhaps forgotten or set aside. We can give great witness to those coming into the Church by our response to God in the Scriptures. The Eucharist, which will be received for the first time by those in RCIA at the Easter Vigil, is the same Eucharist that many of us received for many years and must never receive casually, but as devout and believing people.
Lent is a time of renewal, penance, forgiveness, new life, and sacrifice for us all. Allowing ourselves the opportunities to be involved in the richness of Lent and opening our hearts and minds to the power, that God can exercise through these simple yet profound elements, is our participation in what God and the Church have to offer us. So if it has been a long while or a short while since you have participated, let that be a part of your past. If you regularly have been here, continue to come.
Resolve to make this Lent a new beginning ...
Come and Participate With Us ...
Return to the House of God and Worship With Us ...
Let God In and See What He Can Heal and Renew.
That is the richness of Lent !
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