Our Sacred Stories ~ Lent: A Gift, A Challenge & A Discovery of our Mission

Here we are – Lent again. Here we are – Lent again. Traditionally, it is a time of penance and giving up things, habit and behaviors – but also a time of idealism and promise. It is about setting aside those elements of our lives which impede the goodness of God’s dream for us. Lent is about turning away from the temptations, the “stuff” that is hurtful, wasteful and dehumanizing in our lives and in our world.

But is it is also about becoming. It is about turning around to be the person and the world of God’s plan for us. It is about turning away from self-centeredness and selfishness – and turning towards God and to those many “others” who are part of our lives. It is about using our time and our energy in life-giving ways – that our world may become the world that God has intended. During Lent we discover the message of hope and promise.

Our observance of the Lenten season has its origins in the early Christian Church and is associated with the sacraments of initiation – Baptism, Confirmation and Eucharist. These are the sacraments of welcome and generally take place for new Christians at Easter. From the earliest times, Christians developed the custom of welcoming new members at Easter time.

When the new member was ready to become part of the community, they asked to be initiate at Easter, the feast of the new and risen life. There was a brief and more intense period of prayer, fasting and good works. This was Lent – a time of transformation, a conversion.

The image of this transforming moment is found in the Gospels. We can see it in the desert experience of Jesus himself. After his baptism in the Jordan by John, Jesus ventured into the desert (Luke 4:1-13). There he searched for the mission to which the Spirit was leading him. He struggled with temptations. Then in that same desert, Jesus found his call and his mission. He came out of the desert, proclaiming the Good News of the Kingdom of God, among us.

Every year, Lent is our desert experience, a time to rediscover our connection with our loving parent God. In the desert of our Lent, we have the opportunity to step back and see where we are in our journey, our personal life pilgrimage in faith, our relationship with God and with one another.

Several years ago, Dr. Michael Higgins, in his blog quoted an author named Brian Doyle. Just before he died, I 2017, Doyle reflected on his own life, especially his core relationships and his Catholic faith in “A Prayer for You and Yours”. Of his faith, Doyle had this to say: “I saw for the first time in my life that there were two Catholic Churches, one a noun and the other a verb, one a corporation and the other a wild idea held in the hearts of millions of people who are utterly uninterested in authority and power and rules and regulations; and very interested indeed in finding ways to walk through the bruises of life with grace and humility.” (Quoted by Michael Higgins in “Pontifex Minimus”, 12 Feb 2021)

What might we discover in our Lenten Journey this year?