Experiencing Lent
“Whoever wishes to be my follower must deny his very self, take up his cross each day, and follow in my steps.” — Luke 9:23
My Thoughts:
Wednesday, February 18, known as Ash Wednesday, begins the Lenten season that culminates in the celebration of Jesus Christ’s resurrection from the dead on Easter Sunday. If you have followed with me celebrating the season of Advent during Christmastime, then you know that it is the start of the new church year. While our solar calendar is structured around the rhythms of nature and the seasons, the church calendar is organized around God and the rhythms of His activity in the world. Advent begins the church year—and rightly so–because with it we celebrate the first coming of Christ as a baby born in Bethlehem. In the Advent season we also look for and await Christ’s second coming and the fulfillment of the kingdom promises.
With Lent, we celebrate Jesus’ death and resurrection—rather than His birth. Lent comes from the middle English word for “spring.” Most American Christian denominations traditionally observe Lent for 40 days, starting with Ash Wednesday and ending on Holy Saturday, while excluding the 6 Sundays in which no fasting or self-denial is practiced.
40 days is used many times in the Bible and it represents waiting or testing. The flood of Noah’s day lasted 40 days. The Israelites wander in the desert before entering the Promised Land for 40 years. Moses spent 40 days with God on Mount Sinai. The Israelites were given 40 days to spy out the Promised Land. Jesus fasted in the desert where he endured Satan’s temptations before beginning His public ministry for 40 days. The time between Jesus resurrection and ascension was 40 days. The Temple in Jerusalem was destroyed 40 years after Jesus’ resurrection in 70 AD. And lastly, there were 400 silent years between the ending of Malachi’s prophetic ministry which ended the Old Testament and the beginning of the New Testament with the birth of Christ.
The 40 days of Lent originated as a mirroring or remembrance of these past Biblical waitings and testings—that in our case prepare us for Resurrection Sunday. As Christ spent 40 days preparing for His public ministry, we spend 40 days preparing for the Passion of Christ.
Lent is a time to prepare our hearts. While Advent is a time to remember the grace given to us, rejoice, and it is characterized by prayer, Lent is a time to remember our sins, repent, and it is characterized by fasting. With Advent we awaited the coming Savior, Messiah and King and celebrated His birth. With Lent we now can fully realize our sins and what Christ did for us on the Cross at His death.
Many Christians today celebrate the Lenten Season by fasting on Ash Wednesday and Good Friday (one full meal and two light meals), abstaining from a luxury, adding a Lenten spiritual discipline (such as a daily devotional), and charitable work.
Many churches used to celebrate Lent for the 40 days that lead to Easter Sunday. But much like Advent, at some point we lost the Lenten Season altogether. We lost it to Easter egg hunts, bunnies and a secular Eastertide full of shopping, eating, and decorating.
It is my intention this year to reclaim and rediscover the Lenten Season by writing a blog post every Wednesday and all of Holy Week that is full of Scripture, quotes, music, artwork, and prayers. And I hope you will join me for the journey to the Cross.
Quote:
“Lent is like a long ‘retreat’ during which we can turn back into ourselves and listen to the voice of God, in order to defeat the temptations of the Evil One. It is a period of spiritual ‘combat’ which we must experience alongside Jesus, not with pride and presumption, but using the arms of faith: prayer, listening to the word of God and penance. In this way we will be able to celebrate Easter in truth, ready to renew the promises of our Baptism.” — Pope Benedict XVI
