Do you believe in Lent? I’m not asking if you simply know that it’s a season in the Liturgical Calendar, and if you sacrifice more, pray more, and give more. But do you really believe in Lent? Do you believe that it can change your life? Do you believe that Lent can change the world?
Do you understand the why behind the increased fasting, prayer and giving? Because in this fallen society, in this fractured world, Lent is the most powerful weapon at our disposal. It is that magic bullet that the enemy cannot stop. And our enemy knows this. He knows he is no match for the person that Lent can transform. He knows that if one truly believes in Lent, and truly embraces its’ power through Christ – he is no match.
And so throughout the year, he tries to distract us from the fruits of the seeds that are sewn in this beautiful season. There are so many temptations along the way. So much noise. So many distractions. And even in Advent and Christmas time, we are distracted so much by the secular world, commercialization, and greed that often we fail to see and appreciate the true meaning of Christmas. But as joyous and powerful as Christmas is, Satan knows that where he will be beat, where he will be overcome by a person is through a powerful Lent.
Christ already won the war for us. Everyone knows how it ends. But Satan wants to take as many of us down with him as he can. And so there are many more battles to be fought. A long race yet to be run. And we must train for it.
Lent is the training time. It’s where we prepare ourselves for the race ahead. Easter is like that exciting start to the race, where everyone is excited and full of energy, and for good reason. But Lent prepares us for the duration of the race, the ups and downs, the storms of the year to come.
It’s where we personally train with Christ to become better people for the year. It’s where he goes over the training plan with us, where we log the miles and put in the time to break ourselves down, cleanse our souls, and through which we become stronger. It’s where we learn how to fight off temptation, and where we learn how to rely on Christ throughout the year. It’s where we learn how to become Christ-like.
But most importantly, through all the sacrifices, through all the additional prayers, through all the extra charity and everything in between – we receive God’s grace. The more we train ourselves through the discipline obtained through sacrifice, additional prayer, reading of scripture, and giving of ourselves to others, we are truly giving our “first fruits” to Christ. And He will give His first fruits, His graces, back to us.
So while Lent is a solemn time – it is also a time of beautiful grace. I done right, if we believe in this grace-filled season, the evil one is no match. Just as Jesus fought off temptations in the desert 2000 years ago, we will encounter them throughout our year ahead. Unlike Jesus though, there will be times where we give in to temptations and stumble and fall. This is inevitable.
But our biggest temptation, the one we must never give in to, is the temptation to stay down and give up. The temptation to stop fighting. We’ve got to turn to our training –our Lenten grace and strength – and get back up and fight. This is our blueprint. Our plan for the year.
But how much fight we have to give, how much strength we have, how much grace we have around us stems from this 40 days that we find ourselves in the midst of. Satan wants to cheapen it, and tell us it doesn’t matter. He doesn’t want us to know how powerful increased fasting, prayer, and almsgiving can be for our souls. It’s his kryptonite.
He wants us to feel ok if we slip up and eat meat on Friday, or forget to read more of that Thomas Merton book, or if we don’t want to get up for that 6:30 Mass, or if we give in and have a little of which we have given up. Because when we do this, we are not leaving room for God. We are not filling our souls with Christ, and His grace, and instead, we are filling ourselves with lies. And so if we just go through the motions we are no match.
But if we believe in Lent, we’ve got to be all in.
If we fast in the name of Jesus, and yearn for Him to help us through it – we receive His grace. If we increase our prayer life, build things like the rosary into our life, ask for forgiveness, go to a few more Masses, and fill our minds with His Word – we receive His grace. And if we look inside our soul, deep within our heart, and give more of ourselves to those more in need, whatever that me be – He will give us His grace.
It’s this grace of Lent, this beautiful grace, that sustains us, and helps us to get back up throughout the year, and enables us to fight on. It’s this beautiful grace that shows us the steps we need to take, how to stay on the path, and how to get back on if we stumble. It’s this beautiful grace that shows us how to use our time, talent and treasure to serve others, and by doing so see God in the process. And it’s this beautiful grace, that shows us how wonderful each one of us are, are, and how wonderful and amazing this world truly is.
Lent is truly a beautiful grace, one that we must believe in.
