While Advent is the season to
prepare for the adventus of the Lord
in the human flesh of Jesus, Logos incarnating to dwell among us, Lent (Quadragesima) is the season of 40 days
to prepare for the Death and the Resurrection of the Lord, in contemplating
Paschal Mystery. From the Resurrection Sunday until the feast of Pentecost,
there are seven weeks of Easter celebration.
From Advent until Pentecost, through Christmastide, a short period of
ordinary time, Lent, and Eastertide, we basically focus on the life of Jesus
and how we relate ourselves to his life. For this reason, we start a liturgical
year with Advent, reflecting the Old Testament prophesies of the coming of the
Messiah and our need to remain vigilant and repentant in our preparation for
his arrival. The Advent Gospel readings juxtapose this adventus preparation to the preparation for Parousia, because preparation for this eschatological event also
requires the same kind of attentiveness and vigilance, as well as penance for
the state of grace, for Advent.
As we begin a liturgical year
with Advent season in preparation for the Nativity of the Lord (Christmas), reflected
in the First Week of the Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius of Loyola, we are
reminded to examine ourselves, as John the Baptist called the world to pay
attention to the prophetic voice for repentance, juxtaposed to Examen in the Spiritual Exercises, to
prepare ourselves to encounter the Lord. We first meet the Lord at his
Nativity, celebrating this event until the feast of Epiphany, for twelve days.
Liturgically, we extended Christmas celebration until the feast of the Baptism
of the Lord.
We go through a brief period
of Ordinary Time between Christmastide and Lent (no more than 8 Sundays) –
between the feast of the Baptism of the Lord and Ash Wednesday, reflecting how
Jesus recruited the first batch of his disciples in Capernaum and began his
public ministry in Galilee, upon his Baptism. This is to see unfolding
consequences of what we have prepared for during Advent and celebrated: the adventus of the Lord, or to put in light
of John 1:1-14, the evolving effects of the Logos-Theos
manifesting (theophany) in the human flesh of Jesus.
Through Advent into Christmastide,
we begin symbolizing Christ with light in anticipating his adventus. That is why we make symbolic impressions of increasing
light by lighting Advent candles one by one on each Sunday of Advent to reflect
increasing brightness and receding darkness as the adventus of the Lord (Christmas) draws near. This Advent impression
evokes how night darkness gives its way to the light of sunrise upon dawn. No
wonder that “Kalenda” proclamation in
the Roman Martyrology makes the date of the Nativity of the Lord on the feast
of Sol Invictus, a Roman sun god, as
to replace this pagan deity with Christ, thus claiming the “birthday” of Jesus
December 25. Certainly, juxtaposition
between Christ the Son and the sun can be drawn, with a motif of light. The
allegorical parallel between Christ the Son and the sun is also reflected in Misa de Gallo in the Spanish-speaking
cultures and Simbang Gabi novena in
the Philippines. Mass in these cultural traditions begin at dawn, while it is
still dark, and end by the time the sun rises.
These Hispanic and Filipino traditions toward the end of Advent
allegorically juxtapose the anticipation of the adventus of Christ the Son to the sun rise. In this Christ-sun
metaphoric parallel, the Nativity of the Lord, as the very first theophany, can
be compared to sun rise, though it was still dark when Mary gave birth to
Jesus. With this Christ-sun juxtaposition, then, Christmastide is like the
morning brightness, lighten by the risen sun.
By the time we celebrate the feast of the Baptism of the Lord to end the
liturgical Christmas season, upon celebrating the feast of Epiphany, the sun is
well above the horizon, in this Christ-sun juxtaposition.
While it is still early in
the morning sun light, we begin Ordinary Time, after the liturgical Christmas
season, which ends with the feast of the Baptism of the Lord. As the sun is
visible above the horizon, Jesus, upon his Baptism, is clearly visible in the
world – though the world still does not recognize who he really is. The visible Jesus recruits his disciples and
begins his public ministry in Galilee. Then, Lent begins with Ash Wednesday, as
to interrupt Ordinary Time (which resumes after Pentecost). This is like the beautiful morning sun light
is compromised by fast-increasing dark clouds, as to hide the sun. It is to
juxtapose the darkness of our sins, which leads Christ to his death on the
Cross, to the dark clouds to block the sun. So, Lent begins with constant
reminders of our sinfulness and our need for repentance. It is also a critical
period to reflect how our unrepentant sinfulness led to the death of Christ, as
Lent advances into the Holy Week, especially into Paschal Triduum.
It is supposed to become
brighter as the altitude of the sun increases. However, on the contrary, the
darkness continues to grow toward noon and beyond. Then, the darkest hours
begin at three o’clock in the afternoon, as it was the time Jesus took his last
breath on the Cross, fulfilling his promise to the Father, accepting His will
in Gethsemane (Matthew 26:42//Luke 22:42//Mark 14:36), with his last seven
words, “Πάτερ, εἰς χεῖράς σου παρατίθεμαι
τὸ πνεῦμά μου/Pater, eis cheiras sou
paratithemai to pneuma mou /Father,
into your hands, I commit/commend my spirit”(Luke 23:46), thus consummating
his mission, the reason for him to make his adventus
in the human flesh of Jesus on Christmas, by completing his kenosis on the
Cross. Because of this, the Christ the Son in the human flesh of Jesus died and
was buried, juxtaposing to the darkest sky while it was too early for the sun
to set. As the corpse of Jesus was buried before the sunset of that day not to interfere
the Sabbath of Passover (John 19:38-42), the darkest hours begin before the
actual sunset, and it runs throgh the evening of Good Friday, Holy Saturday,
and before Easter Vigil Mass, as we cover the crucifix and other statues in the
sanctuary with purple cloths (Passiontide veiling) during this darkest period.
It is, indeed, “the dark night of the soul”,
and this increasing darkness is reflected in the Tenebrae service, which begins Spy Wednesday, continued on Holy
Thursday (Maundy Thursday), Good Friday and Holy Saturday. These four days of Tenebrae service make a contrast to the lightening of Advent
candles on each Advent Sunday, as the former is to extinguish one candle after
another, while the latter is to light one candle after another.
The darkest period before
Easter Vigil Mass, during the time of the Passiontide veiling, is, indeed, what
San Juan de la Cruz puts as “La Noche
Oscura del Alma”, because it is the darkness that leads our soul to
mystical union with Christ – the risen Christ, as he poetically reflects in Subida del Monte Carmelo. The gradual
lightening during Easter Vigil Mass may be reflected on our souls’ longing kindled
in love (ansias en amores inflamada)
to meet the risen Lord, upon our completion of Lenten penance. Through metanoia – conversion of heart during
Lent, by turning away from sin and returning to God, this darkest time of the
soul is not mere darkness. Rather, it is indeed, La Noche Oscura del Alma to meet the rising Lord during Easter
Vigil Mass. As San Juan de la Cruz puts La
Noche Oscura del Alma in the context of Subida
del Monte Carmelo, the dark night of the soul in the period of Passiontide gives
rise to Christ’s victory over death in his glorious Resurrection, juxtaposed to
Elijah victory over Baal’s prophets on Mt. Carmel (1 Kings 18:16-45). Not to
mention, Mt. Carmel’s association with victorious Elijah calls our attention to
Jesus meeting with him, along with Moses, on Mt. Tabor during the
Transfiguration (Matthew 17:1–8//Mark 9:2–8// Luke 9:28–36) , which is
understood as the prefiguration of Christ’s Resurrection, also reflected in the
Gospel reading for the Second Sunday of Easter.
By the time we celebrate
Easter day time (morning) Mass, Christ the Son is fully risen, hallelujah! The
tomb, which hid Jesus’ corpse was hidden – juxtaposed to the Passiontide
veiling, is totally empty. Yet, as reflected on the disciples’ fear over the
empty tomb, due to their ignorance of the Resurrection, the Eastertide began
with lingering anxiety and doubt in us. Thus, we still need to work on our soul
and heart during Eastertide, reflecting on how the two disciples were
enlightened by their companion on the road to Emmaus (Luke 24:13-35), and how
Jesus’ repeated appearances until his Ascension gradually replaced the
disciples’ fear with joy, preparing them for their apostolic mission on
Pentecost (John 20:19-21:25; Luke 24:36-53; Matthew 28:16-20; Mark 16:14-20;
Acts 1).
The risen Christ never
descends. He rather ascends to prepare our permanent dwelling place in heaven
(John 14:1-3) and to ensure that the Holy Spirit will come upon us on Pentecost
to send us on our mission (John 16:7). It means that the sun will never set,
upon the Easter Sunday sunrise, allegorically speaking to juxtapose Christ the
Son to the sun. As reminded on Christmas, replacing the former feast of Sol Invictus of pagan Rome, Christ the
Son is far greater than the sun. In
fact, this is why the sun will no longer be necessary with Parousia (Revelation
22:5), as our apostolic mission to carry over Christ’s mission consummates with
this eschatological event in the Kingdom at hand.
This is one way to look into
how our Lenten journey is connected not only to Easter and Pentecost but also
back to Advent and Christmas. Furthermore, this contextual reflection of Lent
gives foresight into what we are called, as reflected in Jesus’ these words, “Go, therefore, and make disciples of all
nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy
Spirit, teaching them to observe all
that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, until the
end of the age”(Matthew 28:19-20).
With this in mind, I invite
you to further reflect on Ash Wednesday homily of my good friend, Fr. Michael
Sparough, S.J.. In this, Fr. Michael allegorically describes Lent as a “marathon
training”. Then, what is the “marathon”
we train for during Lent is juxtaposed to? I say, the “marathon” starts on Pentecost –
not Easter.
To expand and expound Fr.
Michael’s Ash Wednesday homily (found in Youtube: Fr. Michael's Video Homily
Excerpt - Lent is Spiritual Training), which is “the kick-off “into Lenten “marathon”
training, the “marathon” is our
respective apostolic mission journey, reflecting the gifts of the Holy Spirit
that God bestows upon each of us on Pentecost.
It means that our “marathon training” continues on beyond the
Resurrection Sunday. Remember, the
disciples were not yet ready to go on their apostolic mission until Pentecost,
as they were still plagued with anxiety on the day of the Resurrection. Therefore, the Lenten “marathon” training
that Fr. Michael is speaking in his Ash Wednesday homily is just the first
segment of the “training”. Upon the
Resurrection Sunday, we begin the second segment of the “marathon training”. We
take a bit of rest during these days between Ascension of the Lord and
Pentecost – just as marathoners take it easy a day or so before the race. As
St. Paul of Tarsus well reflects with his words in 1 Corinthians 9:24 and 2
Timothy 4:7-8, the “marathon” we are training to run is not about “participation”,
but must be firmly resolved to complete for a prize. Why so? Because, being Christian, trying is not good
enough. Our efforts must bring good results, as Jesus has allegorically said
that a tree is judged by its fruit (Matthew 12:33) and also indicated in his
parable of the talents (Matthew 25:14-30). That is why Fr. Michael also touched
upon Matthew Kelly’s distinction between “trying” and “training” – so that we
do not make our Lenten training another excuse of “trying” and “trying” with no
traction for results.
After all, the Lenten
marathon training is to prepare us for our Ad
Majorem Dei Gloriam apostolic mission marathon! For those who are familiar
with this Jesuit motto of Ad Majorem Dei
Gloriam, the Lenten “marathon”
training can be done in connection to the First Week (#24-71) and the Third Week (#190-217) of the
Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius of Loyola. In connecting Lent to Advent,
Christmastide, and Eastertide, as reflected above, engaging in the entire
four-week format of the Spiritual Exercises is very meaningful. Then, the
Spiritual Exercises serve as our best “marathon” training manual.
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