Lent, as defined by the Council of Trent in 325, is quadragesima paschae. It means 40 days (quadragesima) to prepare for the feast of the Resurrection of Christ (paschae).
These 40 days of Lent are punctuated with 6 Sundays, as these Sundays are like rest and water stations on a marathon course, as Lent is a transcendentally transformative journey juxtaposable to a marathon. A marathon that comes with “θλίψεσιν /thlipsesin”(challenges) and, therefore, demands “ὑπομονῇ/hypomone”(perseverance) in order for us to build “δοκιμὴ/dokime” (character) and “ἐλπὶς οὐ καταισχύνει/elpis ou kataischynei”(hope that does not disappoint), and we can complete this “Lenten marathon” because God has poured out His love through the Holy Spirit ( ὅτι ἡ ἀγάπη τοῦ Θεοῦ ἐκκέχυται ἐν ταῖς καρδίαις ἡμῶν διὰ Πνεύματος Ἁγίου), as Paul has put it in Romans 5:3-5. So, we begin our Lenten journey of 40 days with 6 Sundays on Ash Wednesday (Feria Quarta Cinerum, which literally means “feast of ashes on the fourth day of week) and complete this journey of transcendental transformation when we begin Paschal Triduum after sundown on Maundy Thursday.
First, why ashes to be put in beginning our Lenten
40 days journey?
It reflects a punch line verse from the First
Reading (Joel 2:12-18), “Return to me
with your whole heart with fasting, weeping, and mourning” (Joel 2:12). And
reflect this on Daniel 9:3, “I turned to
the Lord God, to seek help, in prayer and petition, with fasting, sackcloth,
and ashes”. Not just ashes but
fasting and prayer are signs of penance, which prompts us to turn to God for
His mercy to transform us.
So, we pray for God’s mercy to be cleansed of sins’
dirt, symbolized with ashes, to be transformed and transcended anew, as
reflected on the Responsorial Psalm (Psalm 51:3-4, 5-6ab, 12-13, 14 and 17),
echoing Joel 2:12-13 (cf. Daniel 9:18-19).
Though the First Reading for Ash Wednesday is Joel 2:12-18, for better understanding of Lent and why the passage from Joel is chosen to begin Lent on Ash Wednesday, I encourage you to read Joel 1:1-2:32. Then you can see why Joel called Judah to return to God with all their heart. It is even better to read Daniel 9 for a deeper hermeneutic appreciation to Joel 1-2, to recognize how prophetic calls urged the Israelites to turn away from their sinful ways to turn back to God when God’s judgement with disastrous effects was at hand.
Judah was subject to God’s judgement for their sins.
Though the day of the Lord (the day of judgement) was coming, as reminded by
the trumpet, Joel also reminded Judah that God’s mercy was not turned off from
them – if they seek His mercy with contrite hearts, God will bless them. And one of the blessings to come is Pentecost
(Joel 2:28). So, if you read the entire
chapter 1-2 of the Book of Joel, then, you can get an overview from Ash
Wednesday to Pentecost.
In repenting, once we turn away from a life of sin,
which leads us to destruction, and turn back to God, who is abounding in love
and full of mercy, for reconciliation and healing toward restoration of the
original fullness, what are we to do?
Answer is found in the Gospel Reading (Matthew 6:
1-6,
16-18): almsgiving (vv, 1-4), prayer (vv. 5-6), and fasting (vv. 16-18). These
are three pillar Lenten virtues. In the Gospel Reading, Jesus warns us that we
commit ourselves to these three Lenten virtues of prayer, fasting, and
almsgiving, never to draw public attention to ourselves but rather to keep the
matter in secret. Basically, our Lenten commitment to prayer, fasting, and
almsgiving is not meant to be publically acknowledged but rather to be
anonymous – to be recognized only by God.
We want to be recognized by others for doing right
things. So, we want others to know how we are committed to Lenten prayer,
fasting, and almsgiving. But, our desire for this recognition may easily bring
us back to the state of sin. Thus, ultimately, we need to really work hard to
overcome our egocentric gravity as we engage in and commit to the Lenten
virtues of prayer, fasting, and almsgiving. Otherwise, our Lenten journey would
be in vain.
So, how can we overcome our tendency to draw
attention to ourselves as we pray, fast, and give alms?
We may find wisdom for this in Second Reading (2 Corinthians
5:20 - 6:2).
In this Second Reading, Paul reminds us that we are ambassadors
of Christ (2 Corinthians 5:20; cf 6:1) . We are, indeed, Christ’s ambassadors
to each other. Therefore, we need to encourage each other to return to God
together and not to slip back to sins, resisting our egocentric gravity as we
pray, fast, and give alms.
Helping each other as ambassadors of Christ,
overcoming egocentric forces to draw attention to ourselves, we can make sure
that our Lenten commitment of prayer, fasting, and almsgiving, are not in vain
but really transformative and transcendental. It also means that we are not
receiving God’s mercy in vain .
Paul reminds us that now is the time of God’s
special grace for salvation (2 Corinthians 6:2). It is now, Ash Wednesday, to
receive God’s special grace of mercy through our wholehearted. There is no
other better time than now to be transformed through conversion. And Ash
Wednesday is the gateway entry into the 40 days Lenten journey of transcendental
transformation to celebrate paschae –
the Resurrection of Christ, as we are heading to crucify our egos with Christ
on the Cross and rise with the Risen Christ living in us, as Paul puts in
Galatians 2:20. And this is an effect of our Lenten transcendental
transformation.
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