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LENT BEGINS THIS WEEK
Lent began in Egypt at the end of the third century as a 40-day fast. It had nothing to do with Easter. Rather, its purpose was to commemorate and celebrate the Lord's 40-Day Fast in the desert.
Soon, however, this 40-Day Fast changed from commemorating the Lord's 40-Day Fast to being a time of preparation for the feast of the Death and Resurrection of Our Lord, for as St. Paul wrote in I Corinthians 5:8: "Let us celebrate the festival, not with old leaven…"; in other words, let's make things new by dying to self so as to rise to a new life. The fast during these days was simply an extension of the normal fast Early Christians practiced on all Wednesdays and Fridays throughout the entire year, except during the Easter Season. It was extended during the Great Season of Lent to also include Mondays, Tuesdays and Thursdays. And, in Rome, Saturdays also were observed as fast days during Great Lent.
Throughout the Old and New Testaments, fasting always included almsgiving and prayer. One cannot be done without the other two, as Jesus remarks in Mark's Gospel 6:1-18. The Early Fathers of the Church always stressed the need for these three practices together. Thus, all periods of fast were always accompanied by gatherings for prayer and listening to the Word of the Lord, and also by giving alms and doing works of charity for the poor, the widow, the orphan and the alien in their midst.
By the fourth century the character of Great Lent changed. For by the fourth century the Catechumenate was developing. Thus, Lent became the proper time for the final preparation of those to be baptized, as Baptism requires that we enter into the death and resurrection of the Lord by dying to self so as to be able to put on His life. Lent also became the proper time for penitents to be reconciled in the Sacrament of Penance, for Jesus came to reconcile human beings with their God through His Passion, Death, Resurrection, Ascension and Glorification at the right hand of the Father. At Rome this reconciliation of penitents took place once a year on Holy Thursday. The usual manner of receiving the Sacrament of Penance for many centuries was that the penitent would confess his sins privately to a priest, that priest would then give the penitent some form of penance to perform (not merely prayers to say, but some actions to perform) that continued at least until Holy Thursday, more usually these penances took some years to complete. Finally, on Holy Thursday all the penitents would gather before the local Bishop who would be assembled with all his priests, then that local Bishop would grant absolution to all the penitents. In Rome, those being forgiven then came forward and were touched on their shoulders with a long rod held out by the assembled priests.
Today all these facets of the Great Season of Lent are what Lent is all about. Lent is a time for renewing our Christian Initiation into Christ --- dying to self to live for Him and in Him and with Him. It is also a time of final preparation for those receiving the Sacraments of Initiation on Holy
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Saturday, and so they should become a part of our daily Lenten prayers and petitions. Not only should we be praying for our own sins and for grace to change our lives, but we should also be praying for the "Elect" who will soon join our community of faith.
For Western Catholics, Lent begins with Ash Wednesday. On Ash Wednesday there is issued the challenge to repent our sinful ways and to believe more fully in the Gospel of Jesus Christ, to again die to self so that we can walk more intimately with Jesus and to grow in His ways. Eastern Catholics begin the Great Season of Lent on the Monday before Ash Wednesday.
Thus, we accomplish this Lenten Challenge given to us by this Great Season of Lent through the three activities God Himself asked us to do in His Sacred Scriptures: 1) fasting, 2) prayer including listening to God's Holy Word, and 3) almsgiving.
1) Fasting: Aware of our own sinfulness because we pamper ourselves and give-in to our basest needs, we deprive ourselves during this holy season by abstinence and by fasting. Namely, we give up legitimate things as a way to express our sorrow for our selfish behavior and also as a way to teach ourselves to say "No!"
Abstinence: As a community all Catholics 14 years of age or more abstain from meat
on Ash Wednesday and all the Fridays of Lent.
However, pastors and parents should see to it that minors who are not bound by the law of fast and abstinence are educated in an authentic sense of penance.
In addition, individual Catholics are also encouraged to give up some legitimate food, drink, or activity as a way to teach oneself to say "No!"
Fasting: As a community all Catholics between the ages of 18 and 59 fast on Ash Wednesday and Good Friday. This means eating only one full meal that day. Two small collations --- which together in quantity do not surpass the main meal --- can also be eaten, but nothing at all in between the main meal and the collations.
2) Prayer: Aware that communication is the key to any relationship continuing and growing, we realize that conversing with God --- prayer --- is the key to our relationship with Him. The more time we spend in heartfelt conversation with God, the more intimate we become with Him, the deeper will be our relationship with Him and our life with Him. Thus, we need to enter into activities to help us accomplish this. Of course, the foremost way is by participating in Liturgical Prayer (the prayer of Christ with His People, the Church) such as daily Mass, the Liturgy of the Hours, and the Sacraments. The second is by reading/listening and taking to heart the Word of God, the Sacred Scriptures. The third is by spending time with the Eucharistic Presence of Jesus. Other good ways include meditation, praying the Stations of the Cross or the rosary, etc.
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