Ruminations of an Irascible Hermit.: Lent as military service training for Christ

Wednesday, February 22, 2023

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.

No comments:

Disclaimer

Please note. I am a Catholic layman, not a qualified theologian or philosopher. What I say and write here are my own personal thoughts and ideas, although I always try to conform my writings to the Magisterium of the Church.

I- with firm faith believe and profess everything that is contained in the symbol of faith: namely,

I believe in one God, the Father, the Almighty, maker of heaven and earth, of all that is seen and unseen. I believe in one Lord, Jesus Christ, the only Son of God, eternally begotten of the Father, God from God, Light from Light, true God from true God, begotten, not made, one in Being with the Father. Through him all things were made. For us men and for our salvation he came down from heaven: By the power of the Holy Spirit, he was born of the Virgin Mary, and became man. For our sake he was crucified under Pontius Pilate; he suffered, died and was buried. On the third day he rose again in fulfillment of the Scriptures; he ascended into heaven and is seated at the right hand of the Father. He will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead, and his kingdom will have no end. I believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the giver of life, who proceeds from the Father and the Son. With the Father and the Son he is worshipped and glorified. He has spoken through the Prophets. I believe in the one holy catholic and apostolic church. I acknowledge one baptism for the forgiveness of sins. I look for the resurrection of the dead, and the life of the world to come. Amen.

With firm faith I believe as well everything contained in God's word, written or handed down in tradition and proposed by the church--whether in solemn judgment or in the ordinary and universal Magisterium--as divinely revealed and called for faith.

I also firmly accept and hold each and every thing that is proposed by that same church definitively with regard to teaching concerning faith or morals.

What is more, I adhere with religious submission of will and intellect to the teachings which either the Roman pontiff or the college of bishops enunciate when they exercise the authentic Magisterium even if they proclaim those teachings in an act that is not definitive.