LENT: 40 Days for Purification & Enlightenment LOGISTICS of LENT Lent begins on Ash Wednesday and lasts six full weeks Lent ends with SUNDOWN on Holy Thursday With sundown on Holy Thursday, the TRIDUUM begins The TRIDUUM is three “holy days” – from sundown on Holy Thursday to sundown Sunday (Friday, Saturday, Sunday, essentially) HOLY WEEK is the final week of Lent, and it begins with Palm Sunday Palm Sunday might also be called “Passion Sunday”: it is our first reading of the Passion of Jesus Christ in the liturgy At the beginning of Mass on Palm Sunday, Catholics receive blessed palms and re-enact the entrance of Jesus into Jerusalem, before recalling his passion and death Catholics will take the Palms to their homes after Mass and put them in a place of prominence: just before Ash Wednesday, some persons bring the palms back and they are burnt to make the ashes Anyone can receive ashes – you do not have to be Catholic! The DISCIPLINES of LENT: Mandatory FAST & ABSTINENCE (according to Precepts of Church) o Ash Wednesday and Good Friday – all Catholics from 18 to 59 years must fast on Ash Wednesday & Good Friday o Ash Wednesday & All Fridays of lent–Catholics 14 years and older must ABSTAIN from meat o FAST as prescribed by the Catholic Church means only one meal (and that is to be a small, simple meal) and up to two snacks that together do not add up to a second small meal Catholics are all called to embrace three spiritual disciplines: PRAYER, FASTING, ALMSGIVING o PRAYER is the foundation of the spiritual life; it is the place of encounter between us and God. Without prayer we are not able to know the love of God or His will for our lives. All things are possible through prayer, according to the will of God. o FASTING helps us to leave behind all that is not from God, certainly sin, but sometimes even good things. Through fasting God liberates us from distraction, clarifies our desires and our response to Him. When we are hungry and resist the temptation to eat, we tend to remember God more readily. Our minds are often more clear, and certainly our desires can be purified. Every person should choose a form of fasting that is consistent with his/her own life and struggles to be open to God. Our fast should be challenging enough that it really does help us focus on God and his will for us – but not so challenging that it becomes an exercise in pride, taking all our focus to accomplish, distracting us even more from God. It is not often helpful to make the fast known, except maybe to one or two others that can provide encouragement: it is not a community building exercise, but a moment of being radically open to allowing God to do what God wants with our lives. o ALMSGIVING reminds us that we are actually rich because of the love and mercy of God, and that all we possess we have been given for the good of all (ourselves and others). Giving alms helps us to see, really SEE, other persons when our tendency might be to think more of ourselves or look inward. Giving alms helps us to remember that we are all brothers and sisters, all children dependent on our loving God. CONFESSION o All Catholics MUST go to Confession at least once a year (this is a PRECEPT of the Church, see page 334 of the USCCA): Lent is the time set aside to look into our soul and repent from what is bad, give strength to what is good and holy – as we see ourselves clearly, we realize our need for God’s grace and love in our lives. We put on sackcloth and sit in ashes to show our willingness to change our hearts and lives. Confession is central to observing Lent and “returning to God” with all our heart. The Spirituality of Lent: Breaking Open the Scriptures Significance of the 40 days… Noah & the Ark Genesis 6:5-8:22 Jonah, the prophet Book of Jonah Exodus Exodus 13:17-40:38 Jesus, tempted in the desert Mateo 4:1-11; Lucas 4:1- 13; Marcos 1:12-13 In Preparation for Baptism: the Period of Purification & Enlightenment for those seeking Baptism is similar to…. o When the floods which washed (drowned/killed) wickedness and depravity from the earth – while Noah and his family were carried safely through the waters in the Ark for 40 days and 40 nights (NOTE: The flood waters prefigure Baptism; the ark prefigures the Ark of the Covenant - and the Church.) o When the people of Nineveh who humbled themselves immediately by dressing in sackcloth and ashes - presuming nothing, leaving everything, they escaped God's wrath: God "repents" of his plan to destroy Nineveh within 40 days. Jonah, the reluctant prophet, is not happy to see Nineveh repent and be saved. o When the people escaped slavery in Egypt — and then wandered through the desert for 40 years— in this time God led them by a column of smoke by day and a pillar of fire by night - they received water from the stone, manna & quail, all from God's hands - for forty years they had to depend on God alone, though they often turned their backs on Him and complained about His care o When the People received the 10 Commandments, the great Covenant with God; Moses remained on Mt. Sinai for 40 days and nights, receiving the Commandments written on stone tablets which became the “Ark of the Covenant” o When Jesus confronted the Evil One - and refusing to be dominated by him despite 40 days without food, in the desert: Jesus, in the whole of His life, passion and death took all evil in Himself and conquered it once and for all. Now we enter the new Covenant in Christ Jesus. We enter into this Covenant through Baptism. We begin anew in every Confession and Eucharist. o Our own celebration of the Scrutiny Rites of the RCIA when we join the Elect in prayer and self-scrutiny, that the Elect and all of us may be strengthened in what is righteous, strong and good AND be delivered from all that is weak, defective or sinful. o Meditating on these Scriptures may be especially fruitful: o Matthew 4:1-11 o John 4:5-42 o John 11:1-45 o John 3:1-17 o John 9:1-41 o Matthew 26:14–27 .