|
The key to
understanding the meaning of Lent is simple: Baptism. Preparation
for Baptism and for renewing baptismal commitment lies at the heart
of the season. Since the Second Vatican Council, the Church has
reemphasized the baptismal character of Lent, especially through the
restoration of the Catechumenate and its Lenten rituals. Our
challenge today is to renew our understanding of this important
season of the Church year and to see how we can integrate our
personal practices into this renewed perspective.
Why is
Baptism so important in our Lenten understanding? Lent as a 40-day
season developed in the fourth century from three merging sources.
The first was the ancient paschal fast that began as a two-day
observance before Easter but was gradually lengthened to forty days.
The second was the Catechumenate as a process of preparation for
Baptism, including an intense period of preparation for the
Sacraments of Initiation to be celebrated at Easter. The third was
the Order of Penitents, which was modeled on the Catechumenate and
sought a second conversion for those who had fallen back into
serious sin after Baptism. As the catechumens (candidates for
Baptism) entered their final period of preparation for Baptism, the
penitents and the rest of the community accompanied them on their
journey and prepared to renew their baptismal vows at Easter.
Lent,
then, is radically baptismal. In this Update we'll consider some of
the familiar customs of Lent and show how we can renew some of our
Lenten customs to bring forth the baptismal theme.
Ashes
Ash
Wednesday liturgies are some of the best attended in the entire
year. Some people suggest that is just because the Church is giving
out something free, but I suspect there are deeper reasons! Ashes
are an ancient symbol of repentance (sackcloth and ashes). They also
remind us of our mortality ("remember that you are dust") and thus
of the day when we will stand before God and be judged. This can be
linked easily to the death and resurrection motif of Baptism. To
prepare well for the day we die, we must die now to sin and rise to
new life in Christ. Being marked with ashes at the beginning of Lent
indicates our recognition of the need for deeper conversion of our
lives during this season of renewal.
Giving something up
For most
older Catholics, the first thought that Lent brings to mind is
giving something up. In my childhood, the standard was to give up
candy, a discipline that found suitable reward in the baskets of
sugary treats we received on Easter. Some of us even added to the
Easter surplus by saving candy all through Lent, stockpiling what we
would have eaten had we not promised to give it up.
Some years
ago a friend of mine told me that he had urged his children to move
beyond giving up candy to giving up some habit of sin that marked
their lives. About halfway through Lent he asked the children how
they were doing with their Lenten promise. One of his young sons had
promised to give up fighting with his brothers and sisters during
Lent. When his father asked him how it was going, the boy replied,
"I'm doing pretty good, Dad—but boy, I can't wait until Easter!"
That
response indicates that this boy had only partly understood the
purpose of Lenten "giving up." Lent is about conversion, turning our
lives more completely over to Christ and his way of life. That
always involves giving up sin in some form. The goal is not just to
abstain from sin for the duration of Lent but to root sin out of our
lives forever. Conversion means leaving behind an old way of living
and acting in order to embrace new life in Christ. For catechumens,
Lent is a period intended to bring their initial conversion to
completion.
Scrutinies: Examining our lives
The
primary way that the Church assists the catechumens (called the
elect after the celebration of the Rite of Election on the First
Sunday of Lent) in this conversion process during Lent is through
the celebration of the rites called Scrutinies. These ritual
celebrations on the Third, Fourth and Fifth Sundays of Lent are
communal prayers celebrated around the elect to strengthen them to
overcome the power of sin in their lives and to grow in virtue. To
scrutinize something means to examine it closely. The community does
not scrutinize the catechumens; the catechumens scrutinize their own
lives and allow God to scrutinize them and to heal them.
There is a
danger in celebrating the Scrutinies if the community thinks of the
elect as the only sinners in our midst who need conversion. All of
us are called to continuing conversion throughout our lives, so we
join with the elect in scrutinizing our own lives and praying to God
for the grace to overcome the power of sin that still infects our
hearts.
Many
parishes today seek to surface the concrete issues that the elect
need to confront; these issues then become the focus of the
intercessions during the Scrutinies. Some parishes extend this
discernment process to the wider community so that all are called to
name the ways that evil continues to prevent them from living the
gospel fully. Even if the parish does not do this in an organized
way, every Catholic should spend some time reflecting on what
obstacles to gospel living exist in his or her own life. Then when
the Scrutinies are celebrated, we will all know that the prayers are
for us as well as for the elect.
Taking
seriously this dynamic of scrutiny and conversion gives us a richer
perspective on Lenten "giving up." What we are to give up more than
anything else is sin, which is to say we are to give up whatever
keeps us from living out our baptismal promises fully. Along with
the elect we all need to approach the season of Lent asking
ourselves what needs to change in our lives if we are to live the
gospel values that Jesus taught us. Our journey through these forty
days should be a movement ever closer to Christ and to the way of
life he has exemplified for us.
Scrutinies
and
Penance
The elect
deal with sin through the Scrutinies and through the waters of the
font; the already baptized deal with sin through the Sacrament of
Penance. The same kind of reflection that enables all members of the
community to share in the Scrutinies can lead the baptized to
celebrate this Sacrament of Reconciliation to renew their baptismal
commitment.
Lent is
the primary time for celebrating the Sacrament of Penance, because
Lent is the season for baptismal preparation and baptismal renewal.
Early Christian teachers called this sacrament "second Baptism,"
because it is intended to enable us to start again to live the
baptismal life in its fullness. Those who experience the loving
mercy of God in the Sacrament of Reconciliation should find
themselves standing alongside the newly baptized at Easter filled
with great joy at the new life God has given all of us.
Prayer, fasting,
and
almsgiving
The three
traditional pillars of Lenten observance are prayer, fasting and
almsgiving. The key to renewed appropriation of these practices is
to see their link to baptismal renewal.
Prayer:
More time given to prayer during Lent should draw us closer to the
Lord. We might pray especially for the grace to live out our
baptismal promises more fully. We might pray for the elect who will
be baptized at Easter and support their conversion journey by our
prayer. We might pray for all those who will celebrate the sacrament
of reconciliation with us during Lent that they will be truly
renewed in their baptismal commitment.
Fasting:
Fasting is one of the most ancient practices linked to Lent. In
fact, the paschal fast predates Lent as we know it. The early Church
fasted intensely for two days before the celebration of the Easter
Vigil. This fast was later extended and became a 40-day period of
fasting leading up to Easter. Vatican II called us to renew the
observance of the ancient paschal fast: "...let the paschal fast be
kept sacred. Let it be celebrated everywhere on Good Friday and,
where possible, prolonged throughout Holy Saturday, so that the joys
of the Sunday of the Resurrection may be attained with uplifted and
clear mind" (Liturgy, # 110).
Fasting is
more than a means of developing self-control. It is often an aid to
prayer, as the pangs of hunger remind us of our hunger for God. The
first reading on the Friday after Ash Wednesday points out another
important dimension of fasting. The prophet Isaiah insists that
fasting without changing our behavior is not pleasing to God. "This,
rather, is the fasting that I wish: releasing those bound unjustly,
untying the thongs of the yoke; setting free the oppressed, breaking
every yoke; sharing your bread with the hungry, sheltering the
oppressed and the homeless; clothing the naked when you see them,
and not turning your back on your own" (Is 58:6-7).
Fasting
should be linked to our concern for those who are forced to fast by
their poverty, those who suffer from the injustices of our economic
and political structures, those who are in need for any reason. Thus
fasting, too, is linked to living out our baptismal promises. By our
Baptism, we are charged with the responsibility of showing Christ's
love to the world, especially to those in need. Fasting can help us
realize the suffering that so many people in our world experience
every day, and it should lead us to greater efforts to alleviate
that suffering.
Abstaining
from meat traditionally also linked us to the poor, who could seldom
afford meat for their meals. It can do the same today if we remember
the purpose of abstinence and embrace it as a spiritual link to
those whose diets are sparse and simple. That should be the goal we
set for ourselves—a sparse and simple meal. Avoiding meat while
eating lobster misses the whole point!
Almsgiving:
It should be obvious at this point that almsgiving, the
third traditional pillar, is linked to our baptismal commitment in
the same way. It is a sign of our care for those in need and an
expression of our gratitude for all that God has given to us. Works
of charity and the promotion of justice are integral elements of the
Christian way of life we began when we were baptized.
Stations
of the
Cross
While this
devotion certainly has a place in Lent, the overemphasis given to it
in the past tended to distort the meaning of the season. Because the
stations were prayed publicly throughout the whole season, the
impression was given that Lent was primarily about commemorating the
passion and death of Christ.
Vatican II
strongly endorsed the use of devotions as part of Catholic
spirituality, but it also called for their renewal, to harmonize
them with the sacred liturgy (see Liturgy #13). The liturgy of Lent
focuses on the passion and death of the Lord only near the end of
the season, especially with the proclamation of the Passion on Palm
(Passion) Sunday and again on Good Friday. The weekday readings
between the Fifth Sunday of Lent and Palm Sunday also point toward
the coming Passion, so that might also be an appropriate time to
pray the Stations. The earlier weeks of Lent, however, focus much
more on Baptism and covenant than on the Passion.
When we do
pray the Stations of the Cross, we can also connect them with the
baptismal character of Lent if we place the stations themselves in
the context of the whole paschal mystery. In Baptism we are plunged
into the mystery of Christ's death and resurrection, and our
baptismal commitment includes a willingness to give our life for
others as Jesus did. Recalling his passion and death can remind us
that we, too, may be called to suffer in order to be faithful to the
call of God.
One
limitation with the traditional form of the Stations is the absence
of the second half of the paschal mystery. The liturgy never focuses
on the death of Christ without recalling his resurrection. Some
forms of the Stations of the Cross include a 15th station to recall
the resurrection as an integral part of the paschal mystery.
Some
contemporary forms of the Stations also make clear the link between
the sufferings of Christ in the first century and the sufferings of
Christ's body in the world today. Such an approach can help us to
recognize and admit the ways that we have failed to live up to our
baptismal mission to spread the gospel and manifest the love of
Christ to those in need.
Blessed Palms
As we near
the end of Lent, we celebrate Passion (Palm) Sunday. At the
beginning of the liturgy, we receive palms in memory of Christ's
triumphal entry into Jerusalem. As a symbol of triumph, the palms
point us toward Christ's resurrection and might remind us of the
saints in heaven "wearing white robes and holding palm branches in
their hands" (Rev 7:9). The white robes remind us of baptismal
garments, and the palms suggest their triumph over sin and death
through the waters of Baptism.
Triduum Rituals
Lent comes
to an end before the evening Mass of the Lord's Supper on Holy
Thursday. That liturgy begins the Triduum, the great Three Days that
celebrate the central mystery of our faith. Triduum rituals invite
us all to baptismal renewal, par excellence. Here are some examples.
Washing
of
Feet:
After the
homily on Holy Thursday, we imitate our master in the washing of
feet. This ritual reminds us that our baptismal commitment means we
are to be servants of one another. In the time of St. Ambrose in
Milan, those who were baptized also had their feet washed, because
of Jesus' words to Peter: "Whoever has bathed has no need except to
have his feet washed" (Jn 13:10). Many scholars have seen a
baptismal reference in those words.
Veneration
of the
Cross:
As part of
our observance of Good Friday, we venerate the cross on which Christ
died. The veneration challenges us to be willing to accept the
cross, too, for it is the only way to resurrection. Through Baptism,
we shared in Christ's death that we might come to new life. Every
year we are called to deepen our identification with his cross and
resurrection.
Waters of
Baptism: The core of our celebration of the Easter Vigil is the
Baptism of the elect. As we share in their joy on this holy night,
we are all called to renew our own baptismal promises, to live in
the joy of life in the Risen One. Lent comes to its fulfillment
around the waters of the font.
Rediscovering Baptism
When I was
a child, Lent was all about self-denial, suffering and the death of
Christ in bloody agony on the cross. When the Second Vatican Council
issued its Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy in 1963, the bishops
called for the renewal of the season of Lent.
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....Hence, more use is to be made of
the baptismal features proper to the Lenten liturgy....The same is
to apply to the penitential elements. It is important to impress on
the minds of the faithful not only the social consequences of sin
but also that essence of the virtue of penance which leads to the
detestation of sin as an offense against God... (# 109).
The
Council's reference to the baptismal character of Lent seemed
strange to most of us at the time. We had not been trained to link
Baptism and Lent in our minds or in our devotional practices. Yet
Lent is fundamentally baptismal in its origins and its meaning.
Information:
Lawrence E. Mick is a priest
of the Archdiocese of Cincinnati. He holds a master's degree in
liturgical studies from the University of Notre Dame. He is author
of over 500 articles in various publications. His latest book is I
Like Being in Parish Ministry: Presider (Twenty-Third Publications).
|
