Dear friends,
What has helped me understand Lent better in recent years are two things:
First, the analogy of Lent as a school year ... an orientation followed by one semester. This viewpoint highlights the structural, educational and spiritual nature of the 40 days of Lent. The "3Rs" of Lent are not reading, writing and arithmetic, as in a classroom, but PRAYER, FASTING and ALMSGIVING (acts of charity to the poor and homeless).
The orientation takes place on Ash Wednesday and on the remaining days of the first week: Thursday, Friday and Saturday. When we think of Lent, we remember the 40 days Jesus spent in the desert (see the Gospel of St. Matthew, Chapter 4).
The following weeks of Lent are like the school semester. As we spend time in PRAYER ... praising, reflecting, listening and earning ... we grow closer to God and farther from the worldly things that draw us away from Him.
That brings us to FASTING. On Ash Wednesday and Good Friday, we reduce our consumption and eat only one full meal. We also abstain from meat on those two days and on all Fridays during Lent. But is that all that we are asked to do when we fast? God also asks us to use this time to "fast," or detach ourselves from worldly things and possessions.
Second, I have a story to share about one particular Lent when I was a missionary in Kenya. I was asked to give a presentation to an all- boys school in a very poor area of Nairobi. The school was primarily for Catholic boys, but there were about 125 Muslim boys in attendance as well.
I asked myself, "What am I going to say to these kids that would touch the Catholic boys and also the non-Catholic, non-Christian boys?"
The Muslim students practice Ramadan every year, which lasts longer than the 40 days of Lent. Yet the practices are the same: prayer, fasting and acts of charity. The Muslim boys were delighted that I, a Catholic priest, knew something about Ramadan. I must thank the Holy Spirit for that comparison!
Lent is a 40-day course with a final exam. Lent concludes with the Triduum. The Sacred Triduum (a Latin term meaning "three days") is Holy Thursday, Good Friday and Holy Saturday. These three days of Lent lead us to the great holy day of Easter.
Easter Sunday can be seen as the graduation. It is the culmination of our Lenten season. We celebrate the resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ on Easter Sunday.
One billion Muslims celebrate Ramadan. More than one billion Christians celebrate Lent every year. All of these people practice the 3Rs: prayer, fasting, and acts of charity.
Something incredible to remember!
