ENJOY LENT! RISE TO A FULLER LIFE!
Have you tried exercising rather than being a couch potato? I have. It takes some effort at the beginning, but there is deep thrill after the exercise. I remember going with another Salesian for a walk on Marina beach in Chennai early morning. We would be off at 4.45 am by scooter, walk on the Marina for an hour and get back home before the community morning prayer. How energized and fresh we felt! But it meant overcoming the first moments of laziness, the reluctance to get up early, wanting to sleep a little longer.
Lent is a bit like that. Nobody likes giving up the little pleasures of life. Addicts, above all, dread giving up their addictions. Think of alcoholics, or chain smokers or foodies—or those glued to the TV set.
But, if we want to do well in any line—physical fitness or professional excellence or our journey with God—we need discipline.
We need to learn to say No to the little pleasures (which look big and even fantastic in our imagination) and learn to feed ourselves with what truly nourishes.
Like the good feeling after exercise, or the healthy feel after eating a well-balanced meal, Lent is an enjoyable and joyful season. We focus our attention, not on what is on our plate, but on the Big Heart that holds us in love and wants the best for us. Then we let ourselves be loved, take hold of the Loving Hand that longs to clasp us in tenderness, and seek the inner freedom which our hearts long for.
As poet Robert Browning said, “A man’s grasp should exceed his grasp.” To be human, we need to reach out to what lies beyond our grasp. To eat, drink, sleep, mate, grow older and die is OK for rabbits and rats, but not enough for human beings.
To cultivate our best part—a deep humanity, a life of warm tenderness and compassion, a courageous stand for justice, serenity in the midst of struggle and pain—we need to get beyond our likes and dislikes, our attachment to food and drink and comfort, our spiritual illnesses stemming from greed and selfishness, from fear and jealousy—and bring out the best version of ourselves.
This is what Lent is all about. We are helped in this by the support of a faith community, and, above all, by the memory—and nearness—of Someone who became one of us for our sake, took up the cross although innocent, and died like a failure and a criminal—but rose triumphant.
May our Lent and Easter help us to grasp and live by what truly matters—love over selfishness, unity over division, commitment over pleasure, forgiveness over revenge, compassion over indifference.
Then, Easter will not simply be the ritual enactment of a past event, but truly the experience of newness, where we move from the house of fear and hate to the house of love and healing.
May those who see you feel like saying: “Your eyes sparkle. You look radiant. There is more love and joy when you are around. What is your secret?”
If so, the Lord is truly taking hold of your life and heart. May that happen.
Joyful Lent! New Life at Easter!
Fr Joe Mannath SDB
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