ASH WEDNESDAY

ASH WEDNESDAY

           

The key to Lent is itself found in the meaning of the word “lent.” “Lent” is an old English word for springtime. It comes from the same root word “length”. Do you see the correspondence between “lent” and the lengthening of the days of springtime? So the word “lent” is bound up with the concepts of growth, new life, sunlight, and fresh flowers, like the mango blossoms.

Lent is a time to enter into ”mystery” not history. Jesus entered and stayed in the Judean desert for 40 days to prepare for his ministry. Even though we recall this 40-day experience of Jesus as we commence Lent, it would be misleading to conceptualise Lent merely as a 40-day desert experience for us. We don’t need to repeat some material-historical action of Jesus. Rather, we are called to follow Christ in the unbreakable bond of the Paschal Mystery: the Christ of both death and resurrection. We celebrate not the historical Jesus but the Christ of the Paschal Mystery, in whose love we are constantly invited to enter through the simultaneous act of dying and rising, even during Lent itself.

Lent is not a time to “die for 40 days” so that on Easter we may “begin to live again.” This is to fracture the mystery, to deny the simultaneity and integrity of the paschal mystery. Therefore, every day of Lent we celebrate both our death (self-denial) and our growth (life) in Christ.

The words the priest used to say on marking our foreheads with ashes, “Remember, man, that thou art dust and unto dust shalt thou return”, are now replaced with the exhortation, “Turn away from sin and be faithful to the Gospel.” We are being called in this Lenten season to turn again to our compassionate and merciful Father. As Joel tells us, the Lord is “all tenderness and compassion, slow to anger, rich in graciousness and ready to relent.” We should be filled with confidence in this mighty God who though all-powerful reveals himself as ready, even eager to forgive us our transgressions. In fact it can be argued very credibly that God shows his greatest greatness in his desire to forgive us and draw us close to him. Thus our prayer, fasting and almsgiving are penetrated with gratitude for God’s love and salvation, not only with the spirit of penitence.

The question to ask is, “How is God calling me to grow in my Christ life? What must die within me in order to ensure a springtime of renewal?” What we are dealing with are the deeper issues of spiritual renewal within us, and the penances we undergo should be the symbols or symptoms of the growing reality within.

Is God calling me to a deeper environment of interiority? Then I must plunge away from superficialities and silly talk. If God is calling me to greater patience, my mortification will be dying to my demands to be served in a hurry. Is God calling me to an indiscriminate forgiveness of others and the humility of asking for forgiveness? Then I must free myself from oppressive anger and hatred or prejudice, low levels of empathy, an excessive focus on oneself, since in order to forgive and ask forgiveness I must be free. I need to examine if God isn’t calling me to greater generosity in my work and ministry; for my death and resurrection, my penance needs to be leaving sloth and egoistic self-seeking behind. Is God calling me to a closer union with him?  Then I must free myself from all attachments to creatures, human and material. And if God is inviting me to a greater peace in him, I must put aside the anxiety that oppresses and prevents me from opening up to the freedom of supernatural faith.

At a given moment of his ministry, Jesus recommended fasting as the means of expelling certain types of evil spirits. He said explicitly, “Such demons are driven out by prayer and fasting.” Why? Because fasting dissolves the trammels that tie down the self. Once the self gets out of the way, God is free to act in us and through us to establish his rule. Fasting lets God into our lives; or, rather, more correctly, it allows God to take over our lives without let or hindrance.

When we accept penances with this attitude,  both death and resurrection, mortification and renewal, occur simultaneously. Lent is spiritual springtime, the heart and goal of which is life, the purpose of its mortification is growth, its spirit of denial is gain.