Bishop’s Lenten Message 2010- Lent and The Real Fast
Dear sisters and brothers in Christ, once again we come to the holy season of Lent. In the minds of many it conjures up the negative thought of deprivation and pain with its invitation to a more somber existence, whether by limiting one’s food intake or its demands to an intensification of prayer time or the relative silence of the airwaves from certain types of music.
However, when seen in its right perspective Lent provides a great help to Christians on the path to sanctity. Since much of the Christian life consists in the fight against our sinful inclinations and habits, Lent engenders the disposition and provides some tools with which we can overcome the obstacles to our spiritual endeavours.
40 days of reflection and Renewal
Lent is the time set aside by the Church, in imitation of our Blessed Lord, to spend forty (40) days of reflection and renewal. The readings of the liturgy of Ash Wednesday (Joel 2:12-18 and Matthew 6:1-6, 16-18) speak of the need to fast. They call us to sacrifice something for the sake of a greater good. In fact, ever physical activity on the Christian journey that is embraced in faith has a spiritual or supernatural end. The end of fasting or abstinence is ultimately freedom from sin and growth in Christ. This we seek through various practical avenues: food deprivation, almsgiving, acts of charity, generosity, and kindness, forgiveness, and reconciliation.
In our individual lives we have to overcome many obstacles. Lent provides an opportunity to reevaluate the resolutions we made, at New Year’s, for instance, when we challenged ourselves to work at becoming a gentler, kinder and more human person, during this year. You and I know how difficult it is to achieve those qualities. These require discipline.
The Positive effect of discipline
Jesus remains true to his word in which he said, “I have come that you may have life and have it to the fullest” (Jn. 10:10). The path that leads to the “fullness of life” is discipline.
There are four major aspects of the human person – the physical, emotional, intellectual and spiritual. When we eat well, exercise often, and sleep regularly, we feel more fully alive physically. When we love, when we give priority to the significant relationship of our lives, when we give of ourselves to help others on their journey, we feel more fully alive emotionally. When we study hard and achieve success as a result, we feel more fully alive intellectually. When we come before God in prayer, openly and honestly, we experience life more fully alive spiritually. All of these life-giving endeavours require discipline.
If we ask ourselves, when are we most fully alive, we will discover that it is when we embrace a life of discipline. The human person thrives on discipline. That being so we may further ask ourselves whether this season of Lent finds us thriving or just surviving. Jesus calls us to no less that the fullness of life. We are not called merely to cope.
Discipline therefore awakens us from our philosophical state of unconsciousness and refines every aspect of the human person. Discipline doesn’t enslave or stifle the human person, as we are tempted to think; rather, it sets us free to soar to unimagined heights. Discipline sharpens the human senses, allowing us to savor the subtler tastes of life’s experiences. Whether those experiences are physical, emotional, intellectual, or spiritual, discipline evaluates them to their ultimate reality. Discipline heightens every human experience and increases every ability in us.
The life and teachings of Jesus Christ invite us to embrace this life-giving discipline. Today Jesus invites us on this Lenten journey to find the various ways we can crush the sins of hatred, envy, bitterness, immorality, indecency, greed, hardness of heart, and the like.
Give yourself and God a chance
I guarantee you, dear brothers and sisters, that if you set yourself to achieve the goal of overcoming some area of weakness in your life through the discipline that Lent affords, you will emerge at Easter a more joyful and fulfilled person. This, in essence, is the result of a real fast, that is, the conquest of sin and a renewed life in Christ. I therefore challenge you this year to give yourself and God a real chance, and you will have a taste of the abundant life that you seek.
A happy and holy Lent to all.
