Lent as military service training for Christ

Blessed Ash Wednesday and beginning of Lent. 

Lent has begun as of today with Ash Wednesday. May we remember that this is the beginning of a sacred and blessed time that the Church gives us to enter into the desert together with Jesus (Matthew 4:1) in spiritual warfare, for purification through penance so that we can celebrate with joy the victory that Jesus has won for us in defeating death, sin and the devil. Freedom from bondage and slavery of sin, to new life in the promised land of His Kingdom of Eternal Life. 

Today we are called to fast by having one small meal and the allowance of two small snacks not equaling a meal, as well as abstaining from meat. This is a minimum requirement, we are free to do more, but we should not endanger our health or be unable to fulfill our duties. We fast to remind ourselves we do not live on bread alone (Matthew 4:4) and our need for God to fill us. 

During these 40 days, along with fasting on Ash Wednesday & Good Friday, abstaining from meat on fridays - the Church also invites us to pray more, perform acts of charity and give alms. So all of this can constitute our practice throughout Lent, it does not need to exclusively be one or the other.  

As the Church teaches us in the collect for today, we are beginning a time of military service in the army of Christ - we as the Church militant are entering a period of training through ascetical practices to strengthen our resolve in spiritual warfare. This is why we annually celebrate Lent and participate together as the Mystical Body of Christ, on pilgrimage together in the desert, on a campaign to the heavenly Jerusalem (Hebrews 12:22) where we will celebrate the Paschal Feast with our victorious Captain, Jesus Christ (2 Corinthians 2:14). 

May you have a blessed and holy Lent. Let us continue to pray for eachother and support eachother. 

(Collect for Ash Wednesday) 

Grant, O Lord, 

that we may begin with holy fasting this campaign of Christian service, 

so that, as we take up battle against spiritual evils,

we may be armed with weapons of self-restraint.

Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,

who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit,

God, for ever and ever

(Prayer over the offerings) 

As we solemnly offer
the annual sacrifice for the beginning of Lent,
we entreat you, O Lord,
that, through works of penance and charity,
we may turn away from harmful pleasures
and, cleansed from our sins, may become worthy
to celebrate devoutly the Passion of your Son.
Who lives and reigns for ever and ever.

Lent as asceticism - training for spiritual renewal

Lent is fast approaching us, and this Wednesday it is Ash Wedesday for us Roman Catholic/Latin members in this group. It is a day of abstaining from meat, and fasting - so only one small meal that day. 

It is always important to remember that any prayer or penances or fasting we do is not done for the sake of it. It is only a means to an end, it is a tool to help us accomplish a goal. The goal of the spiritual life is union with God - complete transformation in Christ and participating in the life he offers us, participating in Divine life of the Holy Trinity. This transformation and living in the love of God makes us in turn love our neighbour as ourself. 

So Lent needs to be remembered in this context. It is part of the ascetical life the Church gives us every year. Asceticism comes from the Greek word to train, so it is spiritual training to prepare us for our union with God and to be able to celebrate the joy of the victory that the Resurrection of Jesus has won for us which is what we celebrate at Easter. 

Lent is our time of training, a sacred time, a time of retreat and renewal. So any fasting or prayers or penances that we do during this time need to be oriented on renewing us to focus more on what really matters in life - the Will of God. It can be easy to get caught up in thinking “I want to do this or I should do that” - but the issue with that is, the focus is on us and not on God. 

It takes humility to understand that if I want to give up all sweets and coffee during Lent, but I’m going to be so irritable with my family and snap at them all day, then it may not be the correct Lenten penance for me. Sometimes we have to accept although it’s what we WANT to do, and what we THINK we should do, but it doesn’t necessarily mean that what God wants from us. It can be better to focus on loving our family more, praying more together as a family, and possibly reducing coffee intake to only once a day after lunch. This way you are still practicing asceticism, you are still learning self control through denial - but not to the point of being uncharitable to those we live with. 

As you prepare for Lent, try to start it with going to Confession. Take some time in prayer to examine what adjustments need to be made in your spiritual life. Discuss with your spiritual director or parish priests your ideas for your Lentan penance, but also be honest about if you have tried it before and failed, or if it’s been sustainable. 

The devil loves to encourage us to take on grand extravagant penances that we are not able to maintain, and so when we can’t keep it up or forget - we get upset, get frustrated with ourselves, fall into despair and then give up altogether. That’s exactly what the devil wants from us! 

We are daily called to carry our cross, not just in Lent. Lent is supposed to be our bootcamp to help us refocus and renew our spiritual training. Make the most of this time in humility, prayer and patience. Our focus is always on Jesus and what he has accomplished for us through His victory over death and sin by His Resurrection. Let that be our aim and reminder in all that we do, so that we can be open to the Holy Spirit who leads us and guides us in this time of renewal.