Forty Days Of Transformation

 

In the Bible, many numbers have symbolic value. For instance, the number seven is a symbol of completion and of the covenant. And when Jesus chooses twelve apostles, it is symbolic of the twelve tribes of Israel.

Another number that has symbolic value in Scripture is the number forty. For the ancient Hebrews, the it represented change and transition. When the Jews left their bondage in Egypt to enter the Promised Land, it took forty years, symbolic of Israel's transition from an enslaved people to a kingly people. Today's first reading recalls for us the great flood when it rained for forty days and forty nights. This is symbolic of God's desire to transform the world from a place of wickedness to a place of justice. And, in the gospel, Jesus is compelled by the Spirit to spend forty days in the desert doing battle with Satan. Jesus' forty day retreat was symbolic of his transition from a hidden life in Nazareth to a public ministry of announcing God's Kingdom.

 This past Wednesday, we began the forty days of preparation called "Lent". They are forty days of change for us. Like the Jews who traveled forty years in the desert, we are to spend these forty days transitioning from slavery to sin into the freedom of the Spirit. Like Jesus who spent forty days in the desert, we are to do battle with the devil by facing our weaknesses, our temptations and our sins. These forty days are meant to change us.

 To help us maximize these days of preparation for our great celebration of Jesus' death and resurrection, the Church gives us three practices- three tools- so that we may overcome our weaknesses and temptations. They are prayer, fasting and almsgiving.

 These forty days are a time of transition and change in preparation for the celebration of Jesus' death and resurrection during Holy Week. They are a time for us to go into the desert with Jesus to face our temptations and sins. The desert is a symbol of the place where we encounter God. But it is also the place where people can get lost and die! By using the tools of prayer, fasting and almsgiving, we can be sure that the Holy Spirit will help us to grow beyond our slavery to sin and make real in our hearts the freedom we are called to by our baptism

Smeared With Ashes

Every day, each of us, before going to school or to work, makes an effort to look our best. We shower, shave, put on make-up and fix our hair so that others will see us at our best. We want to make a good first impression. We want people to think the best of us and to like us.

So what sense does it make for us to come hear today and put ashes on our forehead?

What we are telling our God and ourselves by this gesture of smearing ashes on our foreheads is that we recognize that despite all our efforts to look our best, we are at our core sinners. Despite our best efforts, we lie and gossip. We are sometimes jealous and petty. Though we try to keep all that hidden from others so that they will think we are "nice", we recognize that we cannot keep it hidden from God. He sees us as we really are. 

There is something more to this gesture, however, than feeling badly about ourselves. Rather we are expressing faith in the God who loves us despite our sins and failings. We live our lives with a suspicion that if people knew what we really thought and how we really felt, they would stop liking us. And so, we are always hiding behind a mask of polite talk and good manners. But God knows who we really are. He reads the thoughts that we keep hidden from others. He sees what we do behind closed doors. And he loves us anyway. He sees our sins and offers to forgive us nonetheless. 

Throughout his life, Jesus was keenly aware that people were not always what they seemed. He was able to see hypocrisy in the hearts of those who seemed to be good and goodness in the hearts of tax collectors and prostitutes. All of them needed to change. All of us need to change. 

That is why Jesus insists that we are to do our good works in secret. He knows how much we need the approval of others. He knows how easy it is for us to use religion and good works as a way of making ourselves look good rather than as a way of growing closer to our heavenly Father.

Today we are beginning the season of Lent - forty days of penance in preparation for the great feast of Easter. Along with not eating meat on Friday, we will each make some sacrifice during this time. It has been an ancient tradition of the Church that we give something up during Lent as a sign of our desire to change. Our sacrifice, however, has to be something more than an exercise of will power if it is to be pleasing to God. Otherwise, it can have the effect not of humbling us before our heavenly Father but of making us even more proud so that we say to God, "Look what I was able to do!" Instead, our sacrifice must have the effect of helping us to recognize that we are sinners in the eyes of God and yet loved just the same.  Our sacrifice must have the effect of helping us to say "no" to our tendencies to lie, to gossip and to hurt others and "yes" to our desire to love others, to serve others and to forgive others.

Today is a new beginning for us. As Saint Paul tells us in the second reading, "This is the acceptable time. This is the day of salvation."  No matter how we may have sinned in the past, God is giving us yet another opportunity to turn to him and renew our friendship with him.

When we receive ashes on our foreheads today, let us keep this in mind. God knows us as we really are and loves us just the same. We can only please him by humbly accepting his love and pledging to do whatever it takes to live as he commands. If we do this in the secret of our heart, then the God who sees what is hidden will shower us with his grace and love as we journey to the feast of the resurrection of Jesus.

This Is the Fasting I Desire

I have never had much success at fasting over the years. Even in the zeal of my youth, I could not even live up to the minimal requirement of 2 small meals and 1 normal sized meal for Ash Wednesday and Good Friday. It was not until Ash Wednesday of last year that I was able to maintain a fast through a whole day. I simply asked God to help me, and he gave me the strength to see it through. Unfortunately, I had no such success the following Good Friday.

Ironically, it has been my failures at fasting which have taught me an important lesson. Fasting is not meant to be an exercise of will power and self-control. Rather, there is a more spiritual meaning behind this traditional Lenten practice which yesterday's daily readings illumine for us.

The first reading is from the prophet Isaiah (Is. 58: 1-9). The people are lamenting that God is not taking note of their fasting. In their minds, because they have succeeded at keeping the letter of the law, God is now somehow in their debt. As the prophet puts it, "They ask me to declare what is due them." But God replies that the fasting he desires is one that brings liberty to captives. We should go without food not to feed our egos but to share what we have with the poor and hungry.

I have always found this scripture passage daunting. Who could I liberate from the yoke? I don't know anyone who is bound unjustly, and I have never had the misfortune (or fortune) of running into someone who was naked and in need of my cloak. In fact, I don't even have a cloak! But the message of this reading is that our fasting, if it is to be pleasing to the Father, must give us a heart more sensitive and compassionate to those who go without food out of poverty and want. Every day in our world there are those who do not eat so that there will be enough food for their children. Even worse, there are those who must decide which of their children they will feed on a given day. If our fasting does not connect us with them, then we are wasting our time.

If Isaiah gives us the horizontal axis of fasting (love of neighbor) then the gospel (Matt.9: 14-15) gives us the vertical axis (love of God). We fast because our bridegroom, Jesus, is no longer among us. Going without food teaches us that our true hunger is for Christ and increases within our heart a longing for his return in glory. The rumbling of our belly is easily settled with a morsel of food. But the rumbling of our heart continues throughout our lives until we are united with our Savior. This is the meaning behind the Church precept that we fast one hour before receiving the Eucharist. First of all, it focuses our attention on what it is we are about to do. Secondly, it reminds us that we do not live on bread alone, as Jesus famously told Satan in the desert, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God. Not only must fasting connect us more closely to our brothers and sisters who are in pain, but it must train our hearts to yearn for the fulfillment of all our desires, our bridegroom, Jesus Christ.

The spiritual purpose behind fasting can be lost on our weight conscious culture with its constant dieting and eating disorders. Fasting can be thought of as just another way of losing weight and looking better. On the other hand, our overabundance can lead us to forget that no amount of material possessions can give us meaning or quell the anxieties of our hearts. The discipline of fasting can not only teach us to control ourselves but to rely more on God for our needs. Then we will be free to give more generously to the poor. And God's promise through the prophet Isaiah will be realized among us:

Your light will break forth like the dawn,
And your wound will be quickly healed.

These Forty Days of Lent

The Bible is rich with imagery and symbolism. Today's readings offer us the symbol of the rainbow - the sign God placed in the sky of his promise to never destroy the world he created. We also read about the desert which the Bible uses as a symbol of the place where we encounter God.

In the Bible, not only do things have symbolic value, but numbers do as well. For instance, the number seven is a symbol of the covenant. And when Jesus chooses twelve apostles, it is symbolic of the twelve tribes of Israel.

One number that has great symbolic value in Scripture is the number forty. For the ancient Hebrews, the number forty represented change and transition. When the Jews left their bondage in Egypt to enter the Promised Land, it took forty years, symbolic of Israel's transition from an enslaved people to a kingly people. Today's first reading recalls for us the great flood when it rained for forty days and forty nights. This is symbolic of God's desire to transform the world from a place of wickedness to a place of justice. And, in the gospel, Jesus is compelled by the Spirit to spend forty days in the desert doing battle with Satan. Jesus' forty day retreat was symbolic of his transition from a hidden life in Nazareth to a public ministry of announcing God's Kingdom which will eventually lead to his death and resurrection.

This past Wednesday, we began the forty days of preparation called "Lent". They are forty days of change for us. Like the Jews who traveled forty years in the desert, we are to spend these forty days transitioning from slavery to sin into the freedom of the Spirit. Like Jesus who spent forty days in the desert, we are to do battle with the devil by facing our weaknesses, our temptations and our sins. These forty days are meant to change us.

To help us maximize these days of preparation for our great celebration of Jesus' death and resurrection, the Church gives us three practises - three tools - so that we may overcome our weaknesses and temptations. They are prayer, fasting and almsgiving.

Prayer is simply communicating with God. Whether we pray the rosary, read the Bible or spend time quietly before the Blessed Sacrament, prayer is about tuning our minds and hearts to God's voice so that we will be ready to respond to him when he calls. To pray, all we need is time, a quiet place and a willing spirit. God will provide the rest. If these forty days are going to be a time of growth for us, we all need to make extra time for prayer. And that will require sacrifice whether it means skipping our favorite TV program, walking up earlier in the morning or taking time out of our lunch break. But we can be sure that if we make the time, God will bless us with much insight and consolation.

Fasting is the practice of giving up food as a sacrifice. There are two days in the year when all healthy Catholics are asked to fast - on Ash Wednesday and Good Friday. Fasting is a powerful tool in our struggle against sin and temptation because it trains us to say "no" to our desires and impulses. It also helps us to grow in sympathy and compassion for the poor who go without food on a daily basis. Fasting also helps us in our prayer because it slows our bodies down making us better able to concentrate. And so fasting must be an important element of our Lenten journey.

Finally, Almsgiving means giving money to the poor. Jesus teaches us that our religious practices are meaningless unless they help us to grow in love and compassion for our neighbor. Giving to the poor is one of the highest forms of sacrifice because what we give up actually benefits another person. It is also an act of faith by which we recognize that everything we have comes from God and belongs to God. It is a very good practice during Lent to take whatever money we may save from our sacrifices, whether it may be ordering water instead of beer with dinner or not going out to eat on a particular day, and donating that money to a charity. By thinking more about others and their needs, our heart becomes more like Jesus', and we grow in love and faith.

These forty days are a time of transition and change in preparation for the celebration of Jesus' death and resurrection during Holy Week. They are a time for us to go into the desert with Jesus to face our temptations and sins. The desert is a symbol of the place where we encounter God. But it is also the place where people can get lost and die! By using the tools of prayer, fasting and almsgiving, we can be sure that the Holy Spirit will help us to grow beyond our slavery to sin and make real in our hearts the freedom we are called to by our baptism.