Pre-Lenten Thoughts
Different people have different kinds of thoughts regarding Lent. Some think of preparing for parish way of the cross and the live way of the cross; some about preparation of choirs for the holy weeks; some about confession, recollection etc. And then there are these types of activities like prayers, fasting etc. A good question to ask, is it a loved season? Or do we wait for it to get over, to reach Easter ? Lent can be connected to two meanings — something related to fortieth or spring season. Can we call it a 40 day spring season of spiritual life?
40 days — a period
Two important images from the Bible for 40 days period are the desert experience of Jesus, and the long journey of Israelites to the promised land. I like to imagine also of the experience of a couple in preparation for their marriage or a person preparing so hard for a certain project at hand; or a lady in pregnancy preparing for her motherhood. In all these images, there is a preparation time for something significant. All these (and many more) can be beautiful symbols of Lent.
Lent is a preparation for the passion and the resurrection of Jesus. Or when Jesus/Israelites/ couple/expecting mother look back at that period later, it is surely seen as preparation period. It might have been painful or difficult at certain levels, but it was a preparation for a certain reality. Or that pain was seen as part of the process. It’s important to realize that they don’t invite pain or sufferings, or inflict the same on themselves or others; they took the suffering that came along the way. It was never for exalting the sufferings.
Lent is not a period to inflict sufferings; lent is a period to prepare for the important events of the life of Jesus. So the Lenten practices I follow, is decided by a personal discernment. Don’t blindly follow the crowd. What can be something that is helpful for me? Options are plenty. Can this season become a spring time of my life? (and not the distressing one — when is it going to get over kind of period).
Personal Lenten Practices
Lent is a time of confession, repentance, and many other practices, and they are very important. Discern what is the best for you. But let this season help us to remember that God’s goodness comes much before sin. Even if we focus on sin, let our entire Lenten focus (or primary focus) be not on sin, but on the deeper reality of God’s goodness and God’s love for me. For me, my significant identity (despite and in the midst of all my struggles and weaknesses) is that I am loved. All this doesn’t mean I forget my sinfulness etc, but I don’t think that the sin is giving me my primary identity. Hopefully our Lenten practices and confession (sacrament of God’s merciful love, and not just the litany of my sins) help each one of us to grow in this direction.
Collective Lenten Practices
In the light of our contemporary political situation around the world, Lenten practices can’t be just limited to personal practices, but it can have a collective dimension. One of the collective tragedy of today’s world is polarization — we are divided (much beyond simple differences) and we listen only to people belonging to our spectrum of life.
Can I (if pro-life) listen to a pro-choice person?
Can I (pro-migrant) listen to a person with opposite view point?
Can I (a believer) listen to a critique of the church?
Can I (a left-wing person) listen to a person from right wing?
Can I listen to the story of a person with LGBTQ identity ? Or can I (if i am a strong supporter of LGBTQ) listen to someone who opposes that view?
There can be many more options — around us. Try atleast one. The purpose is never to convert the other or to convert myself; but to understand. We might still continue to differ strongly, but we know a little on why they think differently (though I still disagree).
