SPIRITUAL GUARDIAN’S REFLECTION: THINKING AHEAD TO LENT

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Occasionally the season of Lent can sneak up on us and catch us unaware so in anticipation of that sacred season so dear to the heart of our founder, I would like to offer a few thoughts as we prepare for Ash Wednesday which is on March 2nd.

In the traditional Liturgical Calendar universally observed before 1969 there was a very visible and liturgical reminder that Lent was coming, a short pre-lenten period of preparation which had some of the liturgical elements of Lent but without the fasting and other observances. It was called Septuagesima, that is the name for the ninth Sunday before Easter, the third before Ash Wednesday. Quadragesima is the Latin word for the season of Lent, which (not counting Sundays) is forty days long. Septuagesima was sometimes called Shrovetide or Gesimatide which ends on Ash Wednesday, when Lent begins.

The majority of Catholics no longer have this liturgical reminder that the season of Lent is approaching, but certainly this was the case during the life of our founder. We know how seriously St. Francis observed the season of Lent. In chapter seven of The Little Flowers of St. Francis of Assisi we find the story of how St. Francis observed Lent one year:

 “Saint Francis, true servant of Christ, was in many ways like Christ himself, given to the world for the salvation of all people. Thus, God willed that Saint Francis conform to the example of his only son Jesus Christ in his choice of twelve companions, as we have seen, in the wondrous mystery of the Sacred Stigmata, and in his Lenten fasting, which he observed in the following manner. Having been lodged at the house of a faithful follower near the Lake of Perugia during the time of Carnival, Saint Francis was inspired by God to observe Lent that year on one of the islands in the lake. So Saint Francis asked his devoted son, for the love of God, to take him on Ash Wednesday in his boat to the uninhabited island by night, so that no one might see them, which the man did readily out of the great love and devotion he held toward Saint Francis. Bringing with him only two small loaves of bread, Saint Francis enjoined his friend to tell no one that he was there and to come back for him no sooner than Holy Thursday, at which his friend took leave of the island, leaving Saint Francis there by himself. As there were no houses on the island to be used as shelter, Saint Francis was content to use a large, thick bush overgrown with vines and plants as a kind of den or hut for himself. There he prayed and contemplated heavenly matters, staying there throughout all of Lent without food or drink, eating no more than half of one of the small loaves he had brought with him, and his faithful friend found him on Holy Thursday upon his return to the island. Upon seeing a loaf and a half of bread still untouched, he believed that the saint ate the half loaf he did eat out of sheer reverence for the fasting of the blessed Christ, who ate nothing for forty days and forty nights, wishing to follow the example of Christ’s fast but setting aside any temptation to vainglory by eating this half loaf of bread as an act of intentional humility. Afterward, God began to perform miracles in this place where Saint Francis had observed his Lenten abstinence in such a wondrous fashion. People came to this island, building houses and living there, until finally a town grew up, along with a community house for the friars, and all in this place where Saint Francis observed Lent felt great devotion for him and reverence. Praise be to Jesus Christ and to his poor servant Francis. Amen”

Lent prepares us to let go of the superficiality and lack of attentiveness that can so often inhibit our growth in the spiritual life. The Church asks us to accomplish three practices that are integral to our observance of Lent: prayer, fasting, and almsgiving. What does all this entail?

Prayer is essential to the life of faith, and by prayer, the Church does not invite us to simply be alone with our thoughts. Prayer is placing oneself at God’s disposal. What must we do? Wait and wonder. What will God do? That is up to Him. As such, prayer is essentially an expression of a disposition to trust God’s purposes. This disposition of trust expresses itself liturgically in the formal prayer of the Divine Office and in the Mass and devotionally in practices like the Rosary or the Stations of the Cross. In the Divine Office, the faithful pray in communion with Christ in the words of the Psalms, words which Christ himself knew and prayed. In the Mass, we receive not merely words, but Christ’s divine life and presence, given to us in the Blessed Sacrament. Liturgical and devotional prayer are the minimum of the spiritual life for Christians. The intensification of the Gospel life that we see in Saint Francis of Assisi had much to do with contemplative prayer and meditation. We know that he spent six months out of every year in complete solitude and this example of an entire lent spent alone and in silence is an expression of his love for quiet meditation with God. Perhaps we need to stir to flame in our hearts again this Lent a love for that silent contemplation that is so important in our tradition. The founders of the Capuchin reform were very strong on this point. Our old constitutions from 1536 required a minimum of two hours in common everyday for the Friars for mental prayer in the chapel. If you find it difficult to start with an entire holy hour begin with a shorter period of time but make it a consistent, non-negotiable park of your spiritual life, it will grow as you deepen in your affect and love for God.

Through fasting we deprive the body of food. Why? Fasting is an exercise in detachment from something that we consider to be necessary and a source of comfort. The experience of deprivation that comes from detachment compels us to consider how worldly things and preoccupations are so easily elevated to ultimate concern and become rivals to God. Oftentimes the most insidious forms of idolatry happen when our assent to an idol is tacit, rather than blatant. Fasting provokes us to a relentless test of our sincerity. Whereas prayer insists on trust, fasting insists on authenticity. What sacrifice do we offer and to whom? Is it the one, true God or some other worldly thing, concern, or power? Further, fasting toughens us for mission. In a conscious and deliberate attempt to deprive ourselves of small things, we prepare ourselves for the occasions when we will be asked to deprive ourselves of greater things. All this is accomplished for the sake of the mission Christ gives to us. His mission, our mission, is love, and love always necessitates a sacrifice.

Finally, we are asked to give alms. Almsgiving is more than just allocating surplus funds to a charitable organization or cause. More is expected of us than that! Think of almsgiving as acts of generosity that enable the performance of the corporal and spiritual works of mercy. It is through the corporal and spiritual works of mercy that we show ourselves to be faithful disciples. Almsgiving places a demand on us to receive Christ as he presents himself to us in his poor. This can be an off-putting experience because Christ arrives in his poor on his own terms. Our place, once he makes his presence known, is not to control, but to serve. Our Lord chose to take the lowest place, so we are compelled to take our place beneath him as servants of the One who makes himself a slave. The performance of such service often resists offering to us the kinds of consolations that we might expect from our service to the Lord, but it is precisely in this that our service becomes efficacious. We learn from this experience how to imitate Christ’s generosity, who gave to us fully knowing that what he gave was undeserved, could not be reciprocated, and would be unappreciated by many. It is in imitation of Christ’s service and acceptance of his conditions that our own service is perfected. Almsgiving is also a reminder of our own mortality, inasmuch as all worldly goods will be surrendered at the moment of death. Rather than building ever greater storehouses for our possessions, we give what we have away. That we do so incrementally prepares us for the surrender of all worldly goods that will ultimately come. Prayer. Fasting. Almsgiving. None of these are ends in themselves. Instead, each is a way, a way that is opening us up to the Church’s spiritual passage into the great mysteries of Holy Week. Have a Blessed Lent. –Father Joseph Tuscan, OFM Cap., CFP Spiritual Guardian (Some information adapted from on line article “How to Get Ready for Lent” by Father Steve Grunow, February 13, 2018)