What Lent is Really All About

Jesus Praying in the Desert“In it he also went to preach to the spirits in prison, who had once been disobedient.” 

These words are hidden right in the middle of the readings for Mass today, in the second reading.  It would be easy to miss.  Most people would skim over these words and go on to the more well-known stories in the bible.  Like the story about Noah and his family surviving the great flood.  And, how the rainbow became a sign of God’s covenant with mankind, to never destroy all life on the earth again.

If you read the gospel today too, then you know it is one of the more well-known stories about Jesus’s life.  It was about the forty days that he spent in the desert and was tempted by the devil.  We are always reminded of this story during the forty days of Lent.  Lent itself is like an annual desert experience for us as well, if you are fasting, giving up some of your comforts in life, and praying more.  That’s exactly what Jesus did in his desert experience too.

However, there are other subtle themes that run through all three of the readings for Mass today too:  temptation, sin, repentance and redemption.

The first reading from the book of Genesis doesn’t mention that God destroyed all life on the earth because of His anger over mankind’s wickedness and sins, but that’s why He did it.  God got so mad that He destroyed them all, and they deserved it.  However, He regretted His decision and swore to never do it again.  Not only did God decide to never do it again, He later provided a way to redeem mankind from his sins.

This is why Catholics believe that the death penalty is wrong, by the way.  God Himself regretted killing mankind in the early development of His relationship with humans.  It is a primitive instinct in us as well, to want to kill criminals who have committed serious crimes too. We think they deserve it.  In light of eternity though, that’s the easy way out.  We should take a hint from God Himself, that destroying life because of serious sin is wrong, and we should work toward overcoming this disordered instinct within ourselves.  A far more difficult thing to do, is to work toward a criminal’s conversion, repentance and reconciliation with God.  This is the exact same process that we would want for ourselves too, if we were in their shoes.

Something to keep in mind though, is that all of the people who died in the great flood had varying degrees of sin.  Those with little sin on their soul, and those with great sins on their soul, were equally destroyed.  In God’s eyes they deserved it.  We warrant the same treatment.  We are all sinners, both great and small.  One mortal sin totally severs our relationship with God.  Once you are cut off from God, you are permanently cut off, no matter how many additional mortal sins you commit afterwards.  The damage is already done.  And, we’ve all been there.  Each and every one of us have severed our relationship with God at some point in our lives, by committing a mortal sin.

The second reading started by saying this though:

“Christ suffered for sins once, the righteous for the sake of the unrighteous.”

And we are not righteous.  Not a single one of us is perfectly holy in God’s eyes.  All we have to do is spend some extended time alone in silence and solitude, like Christ did in the desert, to discover our own inner demons, character flaws, weaknesses and failings.  We distract ourselves so much of the time, in order to avoid facing these ugly facts that lie hidden just beneath the surface of our awareness.  A lot of people are not comfortable being alone for any extended amount of time for this reason.  They need other people to affirm and distract them, from the realities within themselves that they do not want to face.

However, a good thing we might be able to do for Lent this year, is to create some space for silence in our lives.  Turn off the television and the music during Lent.  Get away from the computer more and go do some manual labor, conducting our work in silence.  It’s amazing the things you discover about yourself, your relationships with others, and your relationship with God, when you eliminate the constant noise and distractions.  And that includes eliminating our time in conversation with others sometimes too.  Jesus withdrew from people, noise, and distractions during the time he spent in the desert too.

It is not selfish to withdraw from others, to seek silence, solitude and a little more time in prayer from time to time.  On the contrary, in the long run, it can help us to become better people.  That is really what Lent is all about.  Facing our inner character flaws, sins, and failings, in order to face the fact that there is nothing that we can do on our own to make things right in our lives again.  Only Jesus can.  This verse in today’s second reading for Mass sums up in one simple sentence, what Lent is really all about:

“Christ suffered for sins once, the righteous for the sake of the unrighteous, that he might lead you to God.”

 

About the Author

Hello! My name is Laura Kazlas. As a child, I was raised in an atheist family, but came to believe in God when I was 12 years old. I was baptized because of the words that I read in the bible. I later became a Catholic because of the Mass. The first time my husband brought me to Mass, I thought it was the most holy, beautiful sense of worshiping God that I had ever experienced. I still do! My husband John and I have been married for 37 years. We have a son, a daughter, and two granddaughters. We are in the process of adopting a three year old little girl. We live in Salem, Oregon in the United States. I currently serve as the program coordinator for Catholic ministry at a local maximum security men's prison. I‘m also a supervisor for Mount Angel Seminary’s field education program, in Oregon.

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5 Comments

  1. I read and reread one sentence that confuses and troubles me regarding mortal sin. I hope you can clarify. “Once you are cut off from God you are permanently cut off”. I do not see it this way Laura.

  2. Mortal sin is a basic teaching of the Catholic Church. You can read about it in the catechism. However, that is why we have confession. Confession is the way our relationship with God is restored. You can read more about this in the catechism, if you would like to learn more.

  3. And that is the key – Confession. “You are permanently cutoff…”, until you confess it through the Sacrament of Reconciliation. That is the only thing that repairs the damage of a mortal sin, and it is such a simple way to receive God’s grace and have that relationship restored. And this is why frequent confession and frequent communion are so important, because they provide frequent grace, which in turn helps to prevent frequent sin.

  4. Good Morning Laura, I came across your website while preparing for the Third Sunday in Lent. I am the choir coordinator for our recently instituted Parish in Western Australia.

    I read the words above form another reader and their confusion … I must “disagree” – you are never totally cut-off from God for the Grace of Jesus in His Passion and Death has taken away that great gulf of separation between man and God…one is “separated”for the holiness of God when in the state of sin – one can take the course of Reconciliation, but, if for some reason one cannot confess, one is NOT doomed as suggested by the Total Separation – for then Jesus’Death would not have “conquered”sin and it’s result “death” – in this case a death of total separation from GOD – Forever!

    This is by no means a suggestion to remain in the state of sin – far be it – one cannot and should not take such a chance – rather, one should – as soon as possible – seek reconciliation with the Lord and receive HIS healing Grace through Communion.

    In the world today – with so much of materialism and selfishness GOD seems to be a “concept” for the “weak and foolish” – going be this measure, I would ever be labelled a “fool” by the world and seek GOD in all I do than fall under the spell of the world and its fleeting pleasures of wealth and sinful Godlessness…

    GOD Bless Your Work!

    Adrian

  5. This is what the catechism teaches about mortal sin:

    1874 To choose deliberately – that is, both knowing it and willing it – something gravely contrary to the divine law and to the ultimate end of man is to commit a mortal sin. This destroys in us the charity without which eternal beatitude is impossible. Unrepented, it brings eternal death.

    The key word here is “Unrepented”.

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