Lent is like Maintaining Your Car
This past weekend Fr. Kurt gave a simple yet brilliant image for Lent in his homilies at 5:00pm on Saturday and 7:30am on Sunday. His analogy is that this season of reflection that we have begun is like the many details of maintaining your car. Manuals give us schedules and timelines for everything from tire pressure to wiper blade changes. Often we are simply not aware of, say, how often to rotate tires or the need for transmission fluid flushing and replacement. I venture to guess we all know when our car needs gas and when we must change the oil, but most other items we might not give a lot of attention to. Some of us may be very attentive to every little detail of service and maintenance to our vehicle. You are the ones who get the most value come trade-in time.
But even if we are right on schedule, when the engine light goes on or some extra ordinary challenge occurs, like hitting a huge pothole, getting a ding, having a fender bender or when there is some other major malfunction, we must act and usually act immediately.
Kurt went on to say that his parents raised him to take care of the car but the one he has now is a 2018 model and he recently took it in for service, only to be informed by experts that there we several items that need attention and are overdue for that attention.
I am suggesting that we approach this Lent in much the same way. Get out the manual and see where you are in the maintenance items of your spiritual life. Be extra attentive to the service resources that we are offering, such as weekly, if not daily, Mass, our Parish Mission on March 6 and 7, the principles of Catholic Social Teaching always highlighted in our Lenten Social Justice Project, etc. Join or form an SCC/GIG, or simply be more disciplined about daily prayer, reading scripture or other spiritual reading. Be more intentional about supporting any number of charities, and create some space to listen to God and the Holy Spirit.
Lent is (Like) a Retreat
A retreat can be both an analogy and a metaphor for Lent. It should be a time of reflection and stepping away from the business of our lives and taking on new, as well as additional, prayer techniques. Give up something to create a hunger for God. Being more charitable is the third tenet of Lent and that is not usually associated with a retreat, but certainly can be incorporated into your discernment regarding where and when your charity is most needed.
Why not go on a retreat? Bellarmine Jesuit Retreat House in nearby Barrington is an excellent resource for a day of reflection, a weekend retreat or even an eight-day retreat if you are able. Visit their website at jesuitretreat.org for details. Familiarize yourself with their offerings. Also, make the commitment during Lent, but then attend our Beloved Retreat later this year.
Lent is a Challenge
Another way to look at and embrace Lent is as a challenge. Our suggestion is to be more intentional about compassion this Lent. That can be challenging. That is part of the motivation behind this year’s theme, Compassion: promise and challenge. The obvious challenge to be compassionate is to learn about and support the Edmundite Mission in Selma, Alabama, this year’s Lenten Social Justice Project.
Lent is a Promise
The Gospel of Matthew guides us this entire year. One of the major themes of this Gospel is that God’s PROMISE of salvation is fulfilled through Jesus Christ. The Sermon on the Mount, which we just heard over the past four weeks, and the Our Father prayer articulate how that promise is fulfilled. Jesus teaches us to pray by saying to God, “Thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.” The promise is fulfilled in connecting the kingdom and the will of the divine and human, and the promise is fulfilled “… as we forgive those who trespass against us.” And the prayer ends with the great promise, “For thine is the kingdom, the power and the glory now and forever.”
The Sermon on the Mount begins with a series of promises of blessedness. They promise a great reward in heaven when earthly life is filled with persecution in the name of Jesus Christ. And Jesus proclaims that he has not come to abolish the Promise of law and tradition, but to fulfill it.
Perhaps you can create your own analogy or metaphor for Lent. Above all, may this Lent be a rich spiritual endeavor for you.