Preparing for Lent

Some thoughts about Lent

What does the season of Lent bring to your mind? Do you look forward to it or does it seem to focus too much on the negative side of Christianity? If Lent has become drudgery or just a comfortable tradition, I would like to ask you to reconsider the purpose of Lent.

Some people are uncomfortable with penitential liturgies and seasons because the focus on sin and repentance. Certainly, if we look at Lent apart from Easter, we do ourselves a grave disservice. Lent must always be viewed as an approach to Easter. We are able to face our mistakes because of Christ’s love and mercy toward us. Correspondingly, Christ’s love for us is profound precisely because we do not deserve it. We do not deserve His love or His mercy, yet he offers it to us abundantly over and over again.

Therefore, during Lent when we think of those things which we regret doing, or thinking, or saying, we must think of them in light of the cross. Christ went to the cross, so that we would have hope, so that we would be provided with a way to be free from such burdens. Lent is not a time to wallow in misery – Lent is the time to be renewed. Recognizing our sin and brokenness is painful but that is a worthwhile discovery if it brings about change and an increased awareness of God’s mercy. Our attention to unpleasant issues during Lent is meant to turn our attention to the love of Christ and to recognize His love for us in a new and fresh way. The ultimate goal of Lent is to bring us to joy! If it accomplishes something else, the journey is probably incomplete or misguided.

It is my hope that by the time we arrive at Easter morning, we are loving Christ and enjoying His love more fully than we have ever known. With this in mind, I would like you to reconsider your activities during Lent. Lent is not the Church’s version of a New Year’s resolution – it goes much more deeply than that. If you give up a food item during Lent, do so because that is going to lead you into a deeper prayer life. If you give up smoking or drinking, do so because you are going to pray through your cravings and seek God to take greater control over your physical AND spiritual life.

Possibly giving up something for Lent is not the right approach for you, maybe it would be better to begin a spiritual discipline, such as reading your Bible, or devoting time to the Daily Offices in the Prayer Book, or praying for reconciliation with someone, or interceding in prayer for someone who needs healing. Whatever you choose to give up or take on, do so with the clear intention of responding to Christ.

Fr Van McCalister