LENT: A TIME OF PREPARATION
Lent is a time of preparation. We spend 40 days preparing for the glory of Christ’s resurrection on Easter Sunday. We then spend 50 days celebrating the joy and light of the resurrection. Easter is so central to our lives as Christians that the Church dedicates 90 days (roughly 25% of the year) preparing for and celebrating the resurrection of Jesus from the dead. In Lent we commemorate Jesus’ 40 days (except Sundays) in the wilderness, where he faced temptation and solitude. In this time of preparation for Easter, we enter into a deeper relationship with God through prayer, fasting and almsgiving.
A helpful metaphor to guide our understanding of Lent is what happens in many of our households when we have a special guest arriving for dinner. We spend our daily life in the house with the cleanup tasks put aside. On the day of the visit, we become acutely aware. We take time to consider what needs to be done (prayer), we limit our consumption to prepare for the feast to come (fasting/abstinence), and we prepare food that meets the dietary needs and preferences of the arriving guest (almsgiving). Just prior to the arrival, we assess the cleanliness and presentability of our house, home and feast. When the guest arrives, we then enter into celebration.
Easter is a time of celebration. Lent is a time of preparation. The Lenten season is marked by reflection, repentance and works of justice in our world. As we prepare through prayer we assess what needs to be cleansed in our lives. Abstinence and fasting remind us of what we truly need to exist in this world and how much of our lives are lived in excess of basic need. In service to those who exist in realities where even the basic needs are not met, we are called to focus on generosity. Through Lenten dedication, we can arrive at the light and joy of Easter. As we move closer and closer to this light, we become acutely aware of the shadows we cast.
It is not easy to look at our shadows. I remember once I was walking with my 2-year-old granddaughter on a sunny day. She noticed her shadow. It scared her. Believing this thing was stuck to her shoes, she began to scrape her feet on the ground to try to release it. She was screaming “Poppy, get it off me! Get it off me!” Poppy assured her that shadows are something we all have and they are caused by the light of the sun. Likewise, I believe that the closer we come to the light of Christ, we confront the uncomfortable truth that we all cast shadows.
Shadows symbolize the parts of ourselves that we might prefer to hide: our fears, doubts and sins. They represent the struggles we face, both personally and in our communities. During Lent, these shadows come into focus, encouraging us to confront and understand them rather than ignore or flee from them. Through prayerful self-examination we reflect on our moments of fear, sinfulness, guilt or uncertainty. We, in the light of Christ, acknowledge these feelings and bring them into that light through prayer and contemplation. Trusting in Jesus’ mercy, we recognize our need for forgiveness and seek it from God and others in our lives. Similarly, we draw on the strength of the risen Christ to forgive those who bring/have brought shadows into our lives. We are confident in the faith that just as shadows follow us, so too does God’s grace. St. Paul reminds us that “where sin increased, grace abounded all the more (Romans 5:20).” This is why we are called in the Church to participate in the sacrament of reconciliation as a means to shed light on our shadows.
It is through God’s grace and our intentional relationship with God that we can be transformed. In the darkness of the shadows of our lives, the spark of faith can ignite the flames of growth in ourselves and the relationships that surround us. Through our Lenten practices, we can harness our struggles and rise up with resilience and deep faith. Through this, we can emerge with great compassion for others and their needs. This task is not for us to face alone. We do this in community, and acknowledge that through acts of service, sharing our experiences, and supporting one another in facing shadows, we can definitely scrape the shadows from our spiritual boots. We depend on the wisdom of God to understand the nature of our shadows. We are assured by the resurrection of Jesus that the darkness of death, sin and despair do not have the last word (1 Corinthians 15)!
Michael Way Skinner is a retired Coordinator of Religion, Family Life and Equity with the York Catholic District School Board. He was a contributing author to World Religions: A Canadian Catholic Perspective, and co-authored There Must be a Pony in Here Somewhere (Novalis, 2020) with his wife, Christine Way Skinner. Michael is a public speaker and award-winning educator who is deeply committed to faith as a source for inclusion and justice.
