I Am Roman Catholic
WHAT IS LENT?
Some years ago I attended a seminar which happened to be held in a local Protestant church. While the group was waiting in the vestibule to be let into the church hall I overheard short conversation between a Protestant man and a Catholic man. After discerning that the guy was a Catholic, the Protestant asked him, “What is Lent?”
The Catholic sort of waved his hands in circles as he replied, “Well...you know. That's when you, like, give up candy, and cigarettes...you know.”
The Protestant looked at him with a puzzled expression.
“Why?” he asked.
“Well, you know,” the Catholic replied, “that's what you do.”
Meanwhile I'm dying of embarrassment in listening to this Catholic guy expound such ignorance of his own religion, but there was no time for me to interrupt their conversation because we were called inside.
Lent is a lot more than giving up candy.
The term comes from the Anglo-Saxon word meaning “Springtime,” because of Lent's placement in the year. It's the forty-day period between Ash Wednesday and its culmination on Easter Sunday, and signifies spiritual renewal.
The practice was inspired by Jesus' forty-day fast in the desert while He prepared for His public ministry, all the while being tempted by Satan to stop all this nonsense and come over to his side, the rewards being a good meal and power over the kingdoms of the world. Of course Jesus resisted these temptations and finally was given food by angels.
Likewise for us these forty days are an exercise in will power by overcoming the temptations of the world. It emphasizes the old saying, “You can't always have what you want.” So if we can exercise restraint over little things like staying away from candy, we become stronger to resist more serious temptations down the road of life.
Many Catholics were brought up to believe that no sweets for forty days was what Lent was all about. That is not the point. Actually you don't have to “give up” anything. You can go the extra mile, as it were, by attending church every day, or reading the Bible and other spiritual books, or as a kid by doing extra chores for your parents. If performed with the right attitude, these small acts become spiritual exercises to renew our relationship with God, so that at the end of Lent and the onset of Easter we are in a sense reborn to a new life, as Jesus was reborn in the Resurrection. It also coincides with the “rebirth” of the world in Spring, so this is no accident.
Lent runs parallel to the notion of repentance in the Jewish Yom Kippur and the Muslim Ramadan, during which people atone for their sins by doing something difficult, with the idea that these sacrifices are pleasing to God. But this time of repentance among the three great religions are also a good exercise in self-control. If you're a Muslim it's mighty hard to go from sunup to sundown without anything to eat, and the temptation to fix yourself a snack can be pretty strong. Likewise for a Jew on Yom Kippur, where you can't even drink water for twenty-four hours. For Catholics, having one full meal a day, supplemented by two small snacks, can be difficult to stick to. I have to say that under the new guidelines we only have to do that on two days—Ash Wednesday and Good Friday, so it's not too bad. But the main point is self-restraint. You can handle a diet much better if you have already exercised your will power during Lent, so that you will not fold under the pressure of temptation and run out for a pizza with everything.
Lent is an exercise. It results in strength, both spiritual and mental, so that you can face the world and its temptations with renewed fortitude.
Some years ago I attended a seminar which happened to be held in a local Protestant church. While the group was waiting in the vestibule to be let into the church hall I overheard short conversation between a Protestant man and a Catholic man. After discerning that the guy was a Catholic, the Protestant asked him, “What is Lent?”
The Catholic sort of waved his hands in circles as he replied, “Well...you know. That's when you, like, give up candy, and cigarettes...you know.”
The Protestant looked at him with a puzzled expression.
“Why?” he asked.
“Well, you know,” the Catholic replied, “that's what you do.”
Meanwhile I'm dying of embarrassment in listening to this Catholic guy expound such ignorance of his own religion, but there was no time for me to interrupt their conversation because we were called inside.
Lent is a lot more than giving up candy.
The term comes from the Anglo-Saxon word meaning “Springtime,” because of Lent's placement in the year. It's the forty-day period between Ash Wednesday and its culmination on Easter Sunday, and signifies spiritual renewal.
The practice was inspired by Jesus' forty-day fast in the desert while He prepared for His public ministry, all the while being tempted by Satan to stop all this nonsense and come over to his side, the rewards being a good meal and power over the kingdoms of the world. Of course Jesus resisted these temptations and finally was given food by angels.
Likewise for us these forty days are an exercise in will power by overcoming the temptations of the world. It emphasizes the old saying, “You can't always have what you want.” So if we can exercise restraint over little things like staying away from candy, we become stronger to resist more serious temptations down the road of life.
Many Catholics were brought up to believe that no sweets for forty days was what Lent was all about. That is not the point. Actually you don't have to “give up” anything. You can go the extra mile, as it were, by attending church every day, or reading the Bible and other spiritual books, or as a kid by doing extra chores for your parents. If performed with the right attitude, these small acts become spiritual exercises to renew our relationship with God, so that at the end of Lent and the onset of Easter we are in a sense reborn to a new life, as Jesus was reborn in the Resurrection. It also coincides with the “rebirth” of the world in Spring, so this is no accident.
Lent runs parallel to the notion of repentance in the Jewish Yom Kippur and the Muslim Ramadan, during which people atone for their sins by doing something difficult, with the idea that these sacrifices are pleasing to God. But this time of repentance among the three great religions are also a good exercise in self-control. If you're a Muslim it's mighty hard to go from sunup to sundown without anything to eat, and the temptation to fix yourself a snack can be pretty strong. Likewise for a Jew on Yom Kippur, where you can't even drink water for twenty-four hours. For Catholics, having one full meal a day, supplemented by two small snacks, can be difficult to stick to. I have to say that under the new guidelines we only have to do that on two days—Ash Wednesday and Good Friday, so it's not too bad. But the main point is self-restraint. You can handle a diet much better if you have already exercised your will power during Lent, so that you will not fold under the pressure of temptation and run out for a pizza with everything.
Lent is an exercise. It results in strength, both spiritual and mental, so that you can face the world and its temptations with renewed fortitude.
