Lent is indeed a spiritual season for all Christians, and carries a unique meaning for each member of the community. For many, the focus of our Lenten observance is found on Ash Wednesday-the recognition of our mortality, our human foibles and weaknesses, our essential need for the presence of God. For others, Lent is a time of abstinence and fasting, a season to 'give up things' for God as a sign of our total dependence upon divine generosity for sustenance and nourishment. For others, the 40 days are an essential period of inner searching and reflection, a quest for attentiveness to the wonder of our spiritual life as companions of Jesus. For all, each of these realities plays a part in shaping community prayer and ritual, our identity as people of both the Passion and the Resurrection.
As we journey through the days and weeks of Lent, we can feel a certain tugging of the soul, that underlies our meatless meals, our times of reconciliation, our masses, stations of the cross, and Rice-Bowl offerings. Our prayers and practices are a rich resource for nurturing our attention to God and our fellow-travelers along the Lenten path. However, there is a deeper hunger than that brought on by our refraining from hamburgers or chocolate. There is an abiding current of longing that is constant, even if unexpressed. This yearning is a fruitful well for self-discovery in our approach to Easter. Learning that we are more than the sum of our forgiven sins, more than the sum of our unrealized spiritual ambitions, more than the sum of our images of God-we feel urged to immerse ourselves in a mystery we cannot name. We come to recognize that Lent is not a daunting march through death to hoped-for new life. Rather, it is a miraculous walk to the still-point, the center, of our search for God and for the godly in us. If we are attentive, we begin to sense our growing connection to the divine gift that filled the life and ministry of Jesus, and that calls to us in the midst of our preoccupations, distractions, and premonitions of failure.
Lent points to the victory of life, our life, and our life in the endless divine promise we can so often overlook. This is why we feel the yearning for more prayer, for times of spiritual retreat, for a surrendering of heart that says to God what God says to us in this season-I am yours; live in me.
Written by: Fr. David C. Robinson S.J., LIS Associate Director
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