by Br Julian McDonald cfc
The Spirit drove Jesus out into the desert, and he remained in the desert for forty days, tempted by Satan. Mark 1: 12-15
Lent is a very old English word meaning springtime. The Church’s calendar is organised according to the seasonal cycle of the Northern Hemisphere. The liturgical season of Lent coincides with the coming of Spring and is basically about preparing ourselves to celebrate the high point of the Christian story – the resurrection of Jesus from death. To enter meaningfully into the spirit of the Christian community’s Lenten season we take time to spring-clean our lives. That is not meant to involve ourselves in undertaking some kind of masochistic ordeal or endurance test, involving the infliction on our bodies of physical punishment or deprivation. Rather it is a time of reflection on the authenticity of our living, including the commitments we have made. In a little over forty days from now when we gather in our churches to celebrate the Easter Vigil we will be challenged on our resolve to walk in the footsteps of the risen Christ by responding aloud to the following questions:
Do you reject sin, so as to live in the freedom of God’s children? Do you reject the glamour of evil, and refuse to be mastered by sin? Do you reject Satan, father of sin and prince of darkness? Do you believe in God, the Father almighty…in Jesus Christ…in the Holy Spirit…the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sin,,,?
The authenticity of our “I dos” will depend largely on the extent to which we have invested our time and energy on personal reflection, on engaging with daily/Sunday readings of Lent and cleaning out from our lives whatever is preventing us from living true to Jesus and his Gospel. Just a few days ago, on Ash Wednesday we received ashes on our foreheads as a reminder of our mortality. We were also reminded of the traditional Lenten practices of prayer, fasting and almsgiving but warned by the gospel-reading not to engage in them to impress others and not to assume that they are ways in which we can appease or curry favour with God. Our God, who is always present to us does not need to be appeased or won over. Moreover, our world is littered with reminders of our mortality, to be seen in the beggars and homeless people on our streets who have been failed by our inadequate social support structures and institutions. There are walking ashes all across our world who reflect our mortality to us. We can see them in the camps set up as refuges for survivors of the wars in Ukraine and Palestine and on the tracks worn by Rohingya refugees fleeing from persecution in Myanmar. They are all mirrors to us of our mortality and reminders of the injustices we have been incapable of addressing. The traditional Lenten practices of prayer, fasting and almsgiving have to be genuine expressions of our commitment to Gospel living. In this context, let me offer a suggestion of another Lenten practice worthy of our consideration, It comes from a truly extraordinary Austrian-born Benedictine monk, Br David Steindl-Rast who lives in a monastery in New York State.
Forty years ago, Br David published a book entitled Gratefulness the Heart of Prayer: An Approach to Life in Fullness. In it he claims that the key to living meaningful Christian lives is to practice gratefulness. He proceeds to define gratefulness as “an inner gesture of giving meaning to our life by receiving life as a gift.” He explains that gratefulness is triggered by surprise. – the sight of an unexpected rainbow or the presence of possums feeding on our front lawn. – which opens the door to joy. Growing into being thankful to God for everything that surrounds us and makes up our day involves sensitising ourselves to the blessings all around us. He regards gratefulness as the linchpin of a dedicated life that is animated by faith, lifted up by hope and nurtured by love.
Elaborating on his basic premise, he adds: “Surprise really does lead us on the path of gratefulness. This is true not only for our intellect but also for our will. No matter how tenaciously our will clings to self-sufficiency, life provides the help we need to get out of that trap. Self-sufficiency is an illusion. And, sooner or later, life shatters every illusion. None of us would be who we are if it were not for our parents, teachers and friends. Even our enemies help make us who we are. There never was a self-made person. Every one of us needs others. Sooner or later, life brings this truth home to us. By a sudden bereavement, by a long, lingering sickness, or in some other way, life catches us by surprise. Catches us? Frees us by surprise, I should say. Painful it may be, but pain is a small price to pay for freedom from self-deception.” Instead of devising some penitential regimen for ourselves as we enter into Lent, let us try waking up each day open and attentive to whatever in God’s Providence comes our way. That does not mean meandering aimlessly through the day. We have obligations and commitments to meet, but there will be surprises and opportunities to express gratefulness inherent in them, too. Can we imagine ourselves being freed by the surprises of each day? Surely, that’s a better way to approach each day than desperately trying to find satisfaction and always missing the mark simply by failing to get out of the way of the surprises coming our way. But let’s not forget to express our gratefulness to God for each and every one of them. As the song we sing at this time of the year goes: “May this Lenten discipline which we undertake with love turn our hearts to things above.” (Richard Connolly & James McAuley, Willow Publishing)
Br David’s words resonate with what we hear from Jesus in today’s gospel-reading: “The time has come and the kingdom of God is close at hand. Repent and believe the Good News.” The word “time” (in Greek Kairos) does not refer to a date on the calendar. Rather, it’s like the way in which we use it in expressions like “the time is ripe to harvest the wheat.” – when the growth of the crop is just right, and all the atmospheric conditions are exactly what we need. And “Repent” did not mean anything like to go and express sorrow for sin, the word Jesus used (metanoia) means a change of outlook. – look at life differently and open your eyes to see that God is on the edge of doing something new and different that will change our lives for the better. Jesus’ mission was to usher in the kingdom of God – a great surprise!