Tuesday, February 08, 2005
Lent
It is strange that Lent should come so early this year. It seems like it was not so long ago that I was taking down my Christmas tree, and yet a mere month or so after celebrating the birth of Christ, it is time to prepare for his suffering and death.
This is the most spiritual time of the year, and yet there's always something just a tad superficial in the way we approach it. It strikes me that in many ways Catholics treat Ash Wednesday like it is another New Year's Day, preparing resolutions that are meant to last a mere 47 days. No more chocolate, no more fatty foods, no cigarettes. Of course I am not immune from this. I hold in my hand - metaphorically, I can't type with one hand quite yet - the last alcoholic beverage that I will consume for 47 days (that's another thing - it's not 40 days. Lent is 40 days, then you have another 7 for Holy Week).
I guess in some way it is supposed to represent our sacrifice. Somehow I do not think my refraining from alcohol for 7 weeks quite compares with Christ wandering in the desert without food or water while also contending with Satan, but it's a start.
In all seriousness, it is an attempt at renewal of sorts. We promise to give up something - perhaps a vice, or just something which we rather enjoy, or both. But what does it mean? I'm not sure that it means anything, at least, I don't really think it is the point of the season.
Don't get me wrong, it's not necessarily a bad thing that we should choose to do this. I happen to think that while our "fasting" is but a small token of sacrifice, it still allows us to spiritually cleans ourselves in a sense. Of course the Church has made it easier over the years. Instead of fasting throughout Lent we only are required to do so on Ash Wednesday and Good Friday, and at that the fast is not total.
But I think we need to do more, and I have a suspicion that many are. I am often amazed at the depths of spirituality displayed by my co-religionists. When Mass is over, I leave. Others stay, preferring to spend an extra bit of time praying. I am humbled by my own relative lack of spirituality. Though I attend Mass - Latin, at that - every week, and try to go to daily Mass as often as possible, I sometimes wonder if I am truly doing everything I can to be a good person. It is of course part of the Catholic nature to feel a profound sense of guilt. But the guilt we feel is not a senseless, mindless guilt. We all fail to meet the lofty expectations of our Lord, and we all stumble along the path. Some of us just stumble a bit more.
Maybe this is our version of New Year's. I don't know about you, but often New Year's day is a time for reflection on the past year, about how life has changed. This is a time of reflection, but one of an even deeper sort. Instead of reflecting on all the missed opportunities, or all the good fortune you have come accross, it is a time for reflecting on our spirituality, and to reflect on what we can do to become better people. I suppose I ought not to use "we." Okay, it is a time where I will sit and reflect on what I can do to be person that more accurately reflects the type of person God expects me to be.
But now I have rambled long enough in this awkward public display of religiosity. Yet this day is a day of public spirituality, at least up to a point as we prominently display our sinfulness on our foreheads. At times I think it a bit ridiculous, as though we are making a big show of our Christianity. But now I understand that it is a sign that we are sinful beings. Well, that's the Catholic in me talking. We do tend the harp on the negative sometimes, maybe a bit too much. So long as we don't get bogged down in it, it isn't such a bad thing though.
Have a blessed day.
This is the most spiritual time of the year, and yet there's always something just a tad superficial in the way we approach it. It strikes me that in many ways Catholics treat Ash Wednesday like it is another New Year's Day, preparing resolutions that are meant to last a mere 47 days. No more chocolate, no more fatty foods, no cigarettes. Of course I am not immune from this. I hold in my hand - metaphorically, I can't type with one hand quite yet - the last alcoholic beverage that I will consume for 47 days (that's another thing - it's not 40 days. Lent is 40 days, then you have another 7 for Holy Week).
I guess in some way it is supposed to represent our sacrifice. Somehow I do not think my refraining from alcohol for 7 weeks quite compares with Christ wandering in the desert without food or water while also contending with Satan, but it's a start.
In all seriousness, it is an attempt at renewal of sorts. We promise to give up something - perhaps a vice, or just something which we rather enjoy, or both. But what does it mean? I'm not sure that it means anything, at least, I don't really think it is the point of the season.
Don't get me wrong, it's not necessarily a bad thing that we should choose to do this. I happen to think that while our "fasting" is but a small token of sacrifice, it still allows us to spiritually cleans ourselves in a sense. Of course the Church has made it easier over the years. Instead of fasting throughout Lent we only are required to do so on Ash Wednesday and Good Friday, and at that the fast is not total.
But I think we need to do more, and I have a suspicion that many are. I am often amazed at the depths of spirituality displayed by my co-religionists. When Mass is over, I leave. Others stay, preferring to spend an extra bit of time praying. I am humbled by my own relative lack of spirituality. Though I attend Mass - Latin, at that - every week, and try to go to daily Mass as often as possible, I sometimes wonder if I am truly doing everything I can to be a good person. It is of course part of the Catholic nature to feel a profound sense of guilt. But the guilt we feel is not a senseless, mindless guilt. We all fail to meet the lofty expectations of our Lord, and we all stumble along the path. Some of us just stumble a bit more.
Maybe this is our version of New Year's. I don't know about you, but often New Year's day is a time for reflection on the past year, about how life has changed. This is a time of reflection, but one of an even deeper sort. Instead of reflecting on all the missed opportunities, or all the good fortune you have come accross, it is a time for reflecting on our spirituality, and to reflect on what we can do to become better people. I suppose I ought not to use "we." Okay, it is a time where I will sit and reflect on what I can do to be person that more accurately reflects the type of person God expects me to be.
But now I have rambled long enough in this awkward public display of religiosity. Yet this day is a day of public spirituality, at least up to a point as we prominently display our sinfulness on our foreheads. At times I think it a bit ridiculous, as though we are making a big show of our Christianity. But now I understand that it is a sign that we are sinful beings. Well, that's the Catholic in me talking. We do tend the harp on the negative sometimes, maybe a bit too much. So long as we don't get bogged down in it, it isn't such a bad thing though.
Have a blessed day.
# posted by Paul Zummo : 11:27 PM
