It is not something that is on everyone’s calendar. In fact,
during the better part of my life, Lent was not something that received any attention
until late in my Protestant experience.
I had, during the last couple of years that I was a
Protestant pastor, adopted the practice of using the Revised Common Lectionary as
the source to determine what passages of Scripture I would focus on as the
basis for my Sunday sermons.
I found the practice quite liberating, though it
did go against the grain of my training as a minister in a very conservative
denomination. It flew, even more so, in the face of the norm of the independent
charismatic free-church world where I finished up my career as a Protestant
pastor.
I discovered a lot of freedom in using the Lectionary.
I also began to feel a connectedness and cohesiveness with
the “greater” body that had always been missing in what I sometimes refer to as
my pulpit performances. Multiplied others were using the same texts to feed the
sheep (and probably no shortage of goats) from. I could not help but to think
about what the Apostle Paul wrote to the Philippian Church. “If then there is any encouragement in
Christ, any consolation from love, any sharing in the Spirit, any compassion
and sympathy, make my joy complete: be of the same mind, having the same love,
being in full accord and of one mind.” [1]
It was then too, during the last few years of my life as a
Protestant, that I began using the Book of Common Prayer as one of my personal
devotional resources.
These two resources were influential in introducing me to a
liturgical season that I had never been taught to give any consideration to.
The introduction became even more meaningful as Shirli and I traveled through
the RCIA process and were officially received into full-communion in the Roman
Catholic Church during the Easter Vigil Mass in 2007. It is honestly hard to
believe that we are only a few short weeks away from our twelfth anniversary as
Roman Catholic Christians. It is also extremely difficult to put into words
what we have experienced in the way of joy, beauty, and grace in the liturgy of the Catholic
Church.
Lent is a penitential season in the Church.
Penitence?
And a whole season of it that lasts from Ash
Wednesday until we celebrate afresh the Resurrection of Christ?
What is the point of it?
I think the very first level of the answer is simply that
the Church says so and has always said so.
This is somewhat of an abrupt answer. It is one that
immediately acknowledges the authority of the Church as a legitimate governing
body. To acknowledge the authority of the Church one must first accept the
authority of the Church. This is a stumbling block for a lot of people. I have
no difficulty accepting and acknowledging the authority of the Church as it
works to not only safeguard but also to communicate the Deposit of Faith
entrusted to it by Christ. There must, after all, be a definitive voice of authority
in all matters of faith, morals, and doctrine. [2]
Without a definitive voice of authority in these matters, we are left to the
ugly outcome of our own divided opinions.
The history of Lent is an interesting one. A season of
penitence, right from the beginning, has always existed in the Church as a way
of preparing for celebrating Easter. The duration of the season varied,
depending upon where the Church was represented. The 40-day season was established
as one of the outcomes of the Council of Nicaea in 325 A.D. [3]
Some think we are fortunate that the Catholic Bishops in the
United States relaxed the rules for fasting and abstinence following Vatican
II. Others think, including a number of our Bishops, that the relaxation of the
rules has had an adverse effect on the Church and are working to reinstate the
older standards. [4] Either
way, we are obliged as Catholics, to follow the directions of our Bishops.
Note that we are not prohibited from following the older
standards for fasting and abstinence throughout the year and are, in fact, encouraged to practice some form of
penitence every Friday throughout the year. The USCCB (United Conference of Catholic Bishops) website tells us that the easiest and most sustainable way to honor the Friday penance expectation is to simply fast and abstain just as we do during Lent.
For Catholics, the rules for fasting and abstinence in the
United States are … every person 14 years
or older must abstain from meat (and items made with meat) on Ash Wednesday,
Good Friday, and all the Fridays of Lent. Every person between the age of 18
and 59 (beginning of 60th year) must fast on Ash Wednesday and Good Friday.
While obedience to the legitimate authority of the Church is
definitely an important aspect of being
a Catholic Christian, faithfully observing Lent is much richer and fuller than
simply doing something because I am supposed to do it and told to do it.
Lent is a deeply personal desert-like reflective pilgrimage
that focuses on conscious self-examination of conscience in a spirit of
penance. Defined as such, Lent is more than a liturgical season. Lent, when
seen in the light of this definition, begins to take on the appearance of a
lifestyle that is continually consciously focused on moving toward Christ and
away from the selfish temptations and distractions that stand between us and
him.
As a desert-like reflective pilgrimage with an emphasis on
prayer, penance, and almsgiving, Lent becomes an ongoing characteristic of our
life-liturgy as Christ’s disciples. The liturgical Season of Lent occupies
theses forty days that we have entered into. Our own personal life-liturgy of Lent,
however, never really ends this side of eternity.
What we pick up from our experience of the liturgical Season,
by design, is intended to go with us outside of the liturgical Season as part
of our daily life-liturgy.
