LENT: SEASON OF HOPE
*Fr. Ivo da Conceição Souza
We are in the Lenten season. For us Catholics it is a season of hope.
In the Holy Week we shall celebrate the Passion, Death and Resurrection of
Jesus of Nazareth, the Christ. The whole world has come to know the Gospel
values (or spirituality), proclaimed by the disciples of Jesus. Lenten season
prepares us for the celebration of the Easter, the Resurrection of the Lord. It
is the central mystery of the Christian life, the Mystery of the Death and
Resurrection of Jesus, God become Man, living with us in the Eucharist.
Lent is the time of renewal of the spiritual life of the faithful,
begun in Baptism. Historically, also the catechumens were preparing themselves
for the baptismal bath at Easter liturgy. Vatican II has aimed at the renewal
of the Christian life of the faithful, it was a pastoral Council. It speaks
clearly in the Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy:
"The season of Lent has a twofold character: primarily by recalling or
preparing for baptism and by penance, it disposes the faithful, who more
diligently hear the Word of God and devote themselves to prayer, to celebrate
the Paschal Mystery. This twofold character is to be brought into greater
prominence both in the liturgy and by liturgical catechesis".
In these precarious times of relativism and a-moralism the Church
reminds us "not only of societal consequences of sin but also of the virtue of
penance as detestation of sin as an offence against God. During Lent penance
should not be only internal and individual, but also external and social"
(Sacrosanctum Concilium, no.109).
In the first place, there is the Word of God, which is primordial in
the Christian life. It is the leaven of spiritual renewal. It has to be read
and interiorized within our hearts and minds. The world today needs it. This
continual interiorization by the Word of God invites us and operates in us
radical transformation. Everyone needs an internal surgery of hearts, stripped
of the "old man" so as to dress us up with the "new man". The Risen Lord is the
catalyst of this inner healing and transformation. The Gospel reminds us that
"The time has come. The kingdom of God is near. Repent and believe the good
news!" (Mk 1:15). Christian metanoia is the clarion-call for us all to change
our minds, to change our hearts. We have to tear our hearts, not our clothes:
"Rend your hearts and not your garments. Return to the LORD your God, for he is
gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and abounding in love, and he relents
from sending calamity" (Joel 2:13).
The Church has mitigated the rigor of external mortification, but does
not underestimate in any way the importance and value of penance in the
Christian life; on the contrary, taking into account the spiritual maturity of
adult believers, it seeks to foster the genuine interior spirit that will be
translated into faithful observance of their duties of the state as well as
into fully voluntary imposition of privations and other concrete ways, left to
our discretion and choice.
Lent calls us all, sinners and holy ones, for the yearly renewal in the Mystery
of the Lord. Penance means inner transformation through internal and external
acts and through prayer. The Word of God calls us continuously for the trust in
God and updating of our lives. Lenten spirituality cannot do without fraternal
love, as the prophet Isaiah puts it: "Is this not the fast which I choose, To
loosen the bonds of wickedness, To undo the bands of the yoke, And to let the
oppressed go free And break every yoke? (Is 58:6-7). Or also: "Learn to do
good; Seek justice, Reprove the ruthless, Defend the orphan, Plead for the
widow" (Is 1:17).
The world needs reconciliation--nations after nations, communities,
religions, theists and atheists, scientists and believers. We need to pay
special attention to the weaker sections of the society, to the marginalized
and ostracized. The Lord reminds us of the fundamental choice in our lives:
"Whatever you have done to the least of my brethren, you have done to me" (Mt
25:40).
Our celebration will be existential and a lived experience only if
we deepen the Word of God and, in that light, also our daily existence.
Death and Resurrection of Jesus needs more reflection, it will show
us that the Lord has been crucified for the world. It fills us with hope for a
better world.
