|
Meditations from "On Lion's Wings"
February 05, 2012
Beloved of the Lord,
 On this Fifth Sunday after the Epiphany, I want to mention two things: (1) preparation for Lent and (2) the point of Lent.
Preparation for Lent is not as obvious, liturgically, as it once was. We now use a revised calendar that no long contains the traditional Pre-Lenten season of the three Sundays of Septuagesima, Sexagesima, and Quinquagesima. In Prayer Book revision, the calendar was simplified by removing the Pre-Lenten season.
Our current practice of the conclusion of the season after Epiphany with the Transfiguration of Jesus on the Sunday before Ash Wednesday suits the Gospel narrative very well. But, as a pastor, I sometimes sense for you and for myself, that the transition from Epiphany into Lent is a little abrupt. A three-week countdown is helpful. So, instead of the calendar, it’s me. I’m alerting you now. Get ready. Lent is coming.
As you prepare, consider this view of the penitential sweep of the season, described by Fr. Francis Xavier Weiser who writes, “The liturgical preparation for the greatest feast of Christianity—Easter—proceeds in five periods of penitential character. As the observance of this preparation approaches the feast, the penitential note grows progressively deeper and stricter. The first period of this season of pre-Lent, from Septuagesima Sunday to Ash Wednesday; the second extends from Ash Wednesday to Passion Sunday; the third comprises Passion Week; the fourth includes the days of Holy Week up to Wednesday; the fifth consists in the Sacred Triduum (Holy Thursday, Good Friday, and Holy Saturday.) In these three days, which are devoted entirely to the commemoration of the Lord's Passion, the penitential observance reaches its peak, until it ends (at the Easter Vigil) in the glorious and joyful celebration of the Resurrection.”
Part of any sound preparation is also remembering the point of the season of Lent. The point is growth in holiness as a tangible fruit of the spiritual life.
Holiness and spiritual life are concepts that often seem vague. In practice, holiness as tangible fruit of the spiritual life is quite concrete and is shown in our actions. I would say that the concrete form of holiness is found in the teaching of Jesus. Thus, in preparing for Lent in light of the point of Lent, I urge you to select one teaching of Christ and make practicing it one of your Lenten disciplines.
Dr. Dallas Willard offers sound counsel on the teachings of Jesus and the spiritual life. He says, “It’s really important not to take on all of Jesus’ teachings at once, but to concentrate on a few simple ones and learn how to do those first. And one of the simplest things Jesus said was, ‘Bless those who curse you or mistreat you.’ So I might start there. Learning how to bless those who curse you is a part of what it means to live a spiritual life. We can only do that as we are interacting with God, and really that’s what the spiritual life is—our interactive life with God. . . . Everyone has plenty of opportunities to bless those who curse them, often in their own families. When you learn how to do that, you find what a wonderful thing the spiritual life is.”
I continue the Pre-Lenten reminder next week. May God grant you grace to turn to him with your whole heart.
In Christ,
Fr. Gregory Crosthwait, SSC
Previous Meditations:
January 29
January 22
January 15
January 08
January 01
December 25
December 18
December 11
December 04
November 27
November 20
November 13
November 06
|
