Lent, God’s Love Story for His Children

Lent is often associated with ‘giving something up’, but it is really a time of spiritual discipline, a time of preparation for the great feast of Easter. 

A disciple is one who learns from the master. Immediately after his baptism, Mark says that the Spirit drove Jesus into the wilderness/desert to be tempted by the devil. The desert represents times in our lives of struggle, disorientation, and painful experiences that make us vulnerable to temptation.  Lent offers a special opportunity of taking our woundedness to the divine physician for healing. 

We enter into the rhythm of lent beginning with Ash Wednesday.  

Jesus invites us to greater intimacy through 

Prayer – healing for ourselves and the world; 

Fasting – depriving self of physical comforts through discipline and growing trust in God. 

Almsgiving – sharing our resources generously with the poor. 

In the following five weeks, we journey with the gospel themes of repentance, mercy, forgiveness, as we build the Kingdom of God in preparation for Easter.  

Passion/Palm Sunday week, the holiest week of the Christian year focuses our attention on the sacred mysteries of:  

Holy Thursday: the Blessed Eucharist and the washing of the feet, 

Good Friday: the suffering and death of Jesus for the salvation of the world  

Easter Sunday: Jesus vanquishes death forever through love.  

Lent is a good time to begin or deepen the Lenten practices of prayer, discipline, and almsgiving.  Through these ascetic practices, we learn to nurture the silence within and come to experience joy and wellbeing. 

Maranatha, Come Lord Jesus. 

-Sister Ann Marshall, csj

Does Lent Matter in Modern Society?

As a small child in a Catholic school, I was encouraged to practice some form of “self-denial” during Lent, the six week period leading up to Easter Sunday; this teaching was reinforced at home where my parents and older siblings observed the prescribed fasting and abstinence- from meat as well as choosing other forms of penance, such as abstaining from alcoholic beverages.  Gradually I absorbed the underlying purpose of Lenten practices – deepening my faith connection to God and understanding the significance of Jesus' life, death, and resurrection for our world, for my own existence.  I also learned that developing will power enabling me to make good choices mattered a great deal. Observing Lenten practices such as fasting and almsgiving taught me to practice control over my selfish tendencies, consider the needs of others, and develop empathy for persons who suffered.  Christians, especially Catholics, Anglicans, and Orthodox churches encourage fasting, almsgiving, and sacrifice during lent.  Many other faiths, e.g., Islam, Judaism, Hinduism prescribe periods and practices of some form of self-denial.  All of these are aimed at making our society better and learning to control our own behaviours.

A recent article in the Globe and Mail about alcohol-free-January, "Dry January", in which the writer described the benefits he experienced in abstaining from alcohol for a month brought back memories of my childhood struggles to refrain from eating candy in lent. Our secular culture today encourages self-indulgence rather than self-denial, as evidenced in advertising, excessive consumerism, and changed norms of sexual behaviour. The results of unrestricted satisfaction of perceived needs has had some undesirable outcomes such as obesity, loneliness, poverty, selfishness, anger, superficiality, mental health and relationship problems.  The “me generation” has an inward focus and little interest in creating a society in which persons, cultures, and nations care for each other.  Proposed remedies are mainly secular rather than spiritual. We have a secular version of self-denial aimed at self-improvement rather than spiritual growth.   Consider practices such as dieting, exercise, alcohol free January, or abstinence from facebook, internet, and cell phone usage.  All of these practices are good in themselves but have limited value in saving our environment, reducing violence, or promoting peace among nations.  We are spiritual, intellectual, and emotional beings. Nourishing the spiritual base of our existence is essential for the welfare of our world.  Lent matters.

- Sister Patricia McKeon, csj

Reframing Fasting, Praying and Almsgiving

Each year, over the years, we have been summoned during the Lenten season to engage more fully in the traditional practices of fasting, praying and almsgiving. How might yours and mine and the lives of others be affected, if during these upcoming forty days of Lent we reframed Lent’s threesome call as an invitation to abstain by becoming more open minded – refraining ourselves from our rash judgements of others, to invoke by becoming more open hearted – creating a more welcoming space for others and to give by becoming more open handed – sharing our gifts and time with others.

-Sister Nancy Wales, csj