Rev. Fr. Stephen Touthang
touthangstephen@yahoo.com or
stivenlen@gmail.com
Many Christians throughout the world observe Lent. Catholics, Orthodox and many Protestants benefit from this annual time of sacrifice and simplicity. For non-Christians, Lent might seem like a mystery. Therefore, let us try to understand the meaning of this great and holy season of Lent. Lent is a period of six weeks or 40 days (excluding Sundays) leading up to Easter, the most important festival in the Christian calendar. Lent starts on Ash Wednesday in western Christian Churches and climaxes during Easter week. The last week of Lent is called Holy week. During the days of Lent, Christians remember the time when Jesus went into the desert to fast and pray before beginning his mission entrusted by God. During this time Jesus was tempted several times by Satan but was able to resist triumphantly.
Ash Wednesday: (Jer. 6:26, Daniel 9:3, Judith 4:11, 4:15, 9:1, 1Mac. 3:47, 4:39, Mt. 11:21) On Ash Wednesday many western Christian Churches hold services during which Christians are marked on the head or forehead with a cross of ashes (Gen 3:19, 18:27). This is a sign of saying sorry to God for any wrong doing (penitence: Job 42:6, Jonah 3:5-6) and mortality (to remind ourselves of our lowly and fragile nature of our being). The ashes come from burning the palm leaves from Palm Sunday of the previous year.
Origin of the word Lent
Lent comes from the Greek word “Tessarakoste” which means “the fortieth day” before Easter. In the late Middle Ages as sermons began to be given in the vernacular instead of Latin, the English word “Lent” was adopted. The word initially simply meant ‘spring’. The Teutonic word “Lent” also meant “spring season”. Since, the Anglo-Saxon period it has been used as the translation of the Latin term “Quadragesima” meaning “the fortieth day”.
The practice of Lent originated in the Babylonian pagan religion and was folded into Christianity when the Roman Empire adopted Christianity as its official religion. According to the tradition of the Semeramis, the wife of Nimrod, the king of Babylon claimed she had been supernaturally impregnated by the sun god and gave birth to Tammuz. One day while Tammuz was on a hunting spree he was killed by a wild boar. Semeramis mourned 40 days at the end of which Tammuz was supposedly brought back from death. She proclaimed herself queen of Heaven, founded celibate priesthood to worship her son and declared its chief priest infallible and memorialized her mourning in an annual 40 days period of mourning.
This 40 days period called Lent had its origin in Babylonian pagan religion and came into the Catholic Church with other pagan traditions at the time the Church and pagan Roman religion were merged in the fourth century. That is why you will not find the word ‘Lent’ in the Bible. Though it is paganistic in its origin if we used the 40 days period to reflect on what Jesus did for humankind on the cross that is worth it. But any attempt to make oneself more worthy of one’s salvation by temporarily denying certain things is just a religious work and is of no value.
What exactly is Lent?
Lent is a period of fasting which leads up to Easter. It recalls Jesus 40 days fast in the wilderness mentioned in the Synoptic Gospels (Mat. 4:1-2, Mk. 1:12-13, Lk. 4:1-2). Catholic Lent begins on Ash Wednesday and ends right before the evening Mass of Holy Thursday, although Lenten penance continues till Holy Saturday. With the celebration of Ash Wednesday the Catholics enter into the holy season of Lent. On this day, the priest reminds them of the themes and importance of observing this holy season. They are also reminded of the tasks and duties they are to practice in a more intense manner. Some of the most important tasks are repentance, and conversion, fasting, prayer, almsgiving and scripture reading. But this does not mean that other seasons are spiritually and religiously less important. This is observed as intense part of following the complete life cycle of Jesus Christ in one year’s time beginning with ADVENT (a period during which the Catholics prepare themselves for the coming of Christ at Christmas).
Purpose of Lent
The purpose Lent is to be a season of fasting, self denial, spiritual growth, conversion and penance. Lent which comes from the Teutonic word for ‘springtime’ can be viewed as a spiritual spring cleaning: a time for taking spiritual inventory and the cleaning of those things which hinder our corporate and personal relationship with Jesus Christ and our service to him. Then, it is fitting that the season of Lent begins with a symbol of repentance; placing ash on the head or forehead. However, we must remember that our Lenten disciplines are supposed to ultimately transform our entire person – body, soul and spirit and help us become more like Christ (alter Christus which means another Christ). Eastern Christians calls this process as “theosis” (becoming God) which St. Athanasius describes as “becoming by grace what God is by nature”.
Few basic tasks to be performed during Lent
There are few basic tasks that are associated with Lent. Many of them have been practiced from ancient time onwards. They are:
Fasting (Mat. 6:16-18): The Western rite of the Catholic Church requires its members age 18 – 59 to fast on Ash Wednesday and Good Friday unless a physical condition prevents otherwise. This means only one full meal is permitted on a fast day. The Fridays of lent are days of required abstinence (avoidance of something enjoyable like tasty food item so as to identify oneself with the sufferings of Christ). That is why Catholics forgo meat on Fridays of Lent. Abstinence is required of that age 14 and older. But what we have to learn is that Lent is more than a diet. Fasting should be seen as a kind of mathematico-spiritual exercise i.e., subtraction; I need to subtract the evils that are controlling me – anger, hatred, antagonism, animosity, pomposity, hoity-toity attitude, pride, egocentrism, pretentiousness, superciliousness, antipathy, misanthropy, intolerance, presumptuousness, jealousy, sloth, violence, etc. If one does not fast these negativities, fasting food will be a mere external ritual and a great health hazard.
Prayer (Mat.6:5-15): Lent is a good time to develop or strengthen a discipline of prayer. Prayer is a communication or dialogue with God. The more we dialogue with God the more closer we will be to God. So, let our prayer be like that of Jesus’ “Our Father”. What is important here is the word “Our”. Jesus did not address his Father “My Father” but “Our Father”. The Father is ours too. If God is our Father we are his children and if we are His children, you and I are brother and sister. This is how all human beings become brothers and sisters. Let our prayer during this Lenten season be “other-centered.” Let my prayer go beyond my self, my family, my tribe, my community, my church, my state and my country.
Almsgiving/Charity (Mat.6:1-4): while Lent is about giving something up (i.e., fasting), it is also about putting something positive in its place. The best way to remove vice is to cultivate virtue. Lent has been traditional time of helping the poor and doing acts of charity and mercy. Giving alms can be done in many ways than just giving out money. one of the best ways to give alms is to get out of your comfort zone a little bit by volunteering for a charity or by sacrificing your time, talent and energy with others who are in need.
Scripture Reading (Heb. 4:12, 1Pet. 1:23): When facing temptation in the desert, Jesus relied on the Scripture to counter the wiles of the devil. It is a formidable weapon for us to fight against the devil. Today, biblical illiteracy among Christians is rampant and quiet honestly shameful. St. Jerome says, “Ignorance of the scripture is ignorance of Christ”. Lent is an excellent time to remedy this problem. Let this holy season be a true and bona fide ‘spiritual springtime’.
