Joy in Lent

THIS, I think, should be highlighted in the liturgical season of Lent. No doubt, Lent brings us to the whole reality of the passion and death of Christ, and everything else that went into this epic tragedy, the darkest moment in human history.

It reminds us of what we need to do to reflect in our life and, in fact, to be part of the supreme act of Christ’s love for our redemption through the cross. Yes, we have to do a lot of fasting and abstinence, and the whole range of things needed to wage our life-long ascetical struggle in order to progressively identify ourselves with Christ.

But let’s not forget that Christ’s redemptive sacrifice would not be complete without his resurrection. The whole Lenten season, with its epicenter on Good Friday, would be meaningless without Easter Sunday. Lent can not be but end in the joy of Easter. It has to show the passage of defeat to triumph, of death to life everlasting.

We need to more effectively present the vital, organic connection between the pain of sacrifice and the joy of the resurrection, between the Cross and the new life we get through Christ in the Holy Spirit. This is a challenge for which we need to prepare and train ourselves more competently.

It’s wrong, of course, to highlight one aspect at the expense of the other. Pain and sorrow without joy and newness would not be healthy, just as much as the latter without the former would be. Both have to be presented, seen and appreciated together.

That’s the whole picture. We have to be wary to show a partial view only. Besides, we need to know how to present the whole picture that is respectful to the sensitivities of the people in their different stages of life.

In our natural life, we normally use different ways. What and how we tell things to adults would be different to what and how we tell the children. The same thing should happen when we talk about truths of our faith and our spiritual life. We have to devise the appropriate pedagogy (child education) and andragogy (adult education) for this.

Given the temper of the times and the general character and mood of the people today, especially the young, there is need to highlight the consequence of joy in Lent. This is not to remove the usual, traditional Lenten practices that we, thank God, have developed so richly through the years.

It is to purify and complete them, to update them, to make them more sensitive to the way people are these days. While tradition is good, it is supposed to be a living one, not dead that is stuck in the ways of yesteryears.

In short, we have to distinguish between living tradition and dead traditionalism. We have to withdraw from the lightning-and-thunder rhetoric that may have been useful in times past and acquire a language that without compromising the essentials of Lent is delicate and attractive to the people of today.

Let’s avoid excessive gloom. We have to let in some bright light and fresh air in Lent, the one promised by Christ with his resurrection.

I am sure people will readily understand the need for sacrifice as long as it has meaning, and therefore worthwhile. Even the most vain among us understand that very well. They are willing to go through the pains of liposuction and nip-and-tuck procedures because they price vanity so much.

What we are “marketing” in Lent is far more important, even infinitely more important than vanity. And so we just have to find a way to present things such that people in different ages would be most willing to embrace sacrifice and love the cross, and loving it with a passion.

Of course, things have to be done with naturalness, without grabbing attention and generating publicity. The pain and joy of Lent should be considered normal to all, a kind of daily routine that we do with great love and sense of purpose.

In fact, the spirit and character of Lent should somehow accompany us all throughout the year. We cannot confine it to a season only. It has to be part of our life, a vital one that conforms us always to the life of Christ, for that is how we ought to live in this life.

In short, we have to encourage everyone to stretch their understanding of Lent to link it always to the joy of eternal life. This can be done. It should be done!