A First Sunday of Lent Thought to Start the Week Off Right
We've really focused on preparing for Lent this year. Now Lent is finally here. Today we get our first break. That's right, Sunday - at least in the Latin rite of our Catholic Church - sort of doesn't count as Lent. I mean it's in Lent, but we don't observe our Lenten fasting today. As for whether it's technically a part of Lent, that's a question for experts. All we need to know is we get a break.
Of course, the break only makes sense if you've been actually doing something that calls for a break. If you're going about your life "business as usual," you don't deserve a break, right? So what about it? How did you do in your Lenten discipline so far? Did you dive right in on Ash Wednesday, plan in hand, ready for some prayer, fasting, and almsgiving? Or is it taking some time to get down to business? If, perchance, you haven't even put any thought into exactly what your commitment to prayer, fasting and alsmgiving will be during Lent, well, take this time to do that. It's never too late. But if you've begun with full guns blazing, you'll likely enjoy the break.
Besides easing up on ourselves, Sunday might be a good time to take a moment to think about this whole idea of Lent being a penitential season. What's it mean? What's it for?
Well, penance is, simply, "an outward expression of repentance for having done wrong." So, have you done anything wrong lately? If so (and who hasn't?) you need penance. Pretty simple and straightforward so far. You don't have to even be a Catholic to get this. Of course, for us Catholics, penance is also a sacrament: the Sacrament of Penance, or Confession. Since sacraments provide us with that essential life-giving gift of grace, it only makes sense that we'd access the sacraments as often as possible. These days most of us Catholics do that by receiving Holy Communion on Sunday, if not during daily Mass. But shockingly few of us bother to access the Sacrament of Penance. How about you? Have you been to confession lately? No? How about getting there soon, like this week? Seriously, if Lent is a penitential season, the Sacrament of Penance kind of comes with the territory, doesn't it? Forget about the fact that most priests and bishops don't talk much about the importance of Confession these days. Forget the fact that, in most churches, confessions are only offered for a half hour or hour on Saturdays - usually before the anticipated evening Mass - if it's regularly offered at all. Us Catholic men at work can treat this the same way we would any difficult or seemingly impossible obstacle to getting the job done: Figure it out!
And let's get this straight: Going to confession is more important and urgent that any important and urgent task we've got to tackle in our work lives. In case you're not sure about the importance and urgency of getting to and making a good confession, here's some authentic teaching of the Catholic Church about the subject (secondary source: The Catholic Encyclopedia):
As a means of regaining grace and justice, penance was at all times necessary for those who had defiled their souls with any mortal sin. . . . Before the coming of Christ, penance was not a sacrament, nor is it since His coming a sacrament for those who are not baptized. But the Lord then principally instituted the Sacrament of Penance, when, being raised from the dead, he breathed upon His disciples saying: 'Receive ye the Holy Ghost. Whose sins you shall forgive, they are forgiven them; and whose sins you shall retain, they are retained (John 20:22-23). By which action so signal and words so clear the consent of all the Fathers has ever understood that the power of forgiving and retaining sins was communicated to the Apostles and to their lawful successors, for the reconciling of the faithful who have fallen after Baptism. (from the Council of Trent, Sess. XIV, c. i)
Whether our priests or bishops take this teaching to heart anymore, the fact remains, the power of forgiving and retaining sins was communicated to the Apostles and to their lawful successors, for the reconciling of the faithful who have fallen after Baptism. Our Blessed Lord Himself took the initiative to institute this Sacrament. So get with the program and get to Confession.
Look, unless you're without sin, you go to Confession, tell the priest your sins, and he gives you a penance, e.g., "Say three Hail Marys." You do your penance, your soul is cleansed of all its sins. Of course, if you're like most of us, you then go about your business and eventually you slip and fall a few times again, despite your firm purpose of amendment to not sin again. So what do you do? You go to Confession again...and again...and again. Get it?
Now, some of you are likely already regularly accessing the Sacrament of Penance. But if you're not, Lent presents you with an oh-so-obvious reason to not only get to Confession once, but to develop the habit of regular Confession. The thing about this Holy Season is, if you take it seriously and practice your Lenten discipline, special graces will flow to you. And one of those graces will be - if you need it - the actual grace to help you get off your butt and get to Confession now and on a regular basis in the future.
Well, that's enough for this first Sunday of Lent. Focusing on and thinking about the concept of penance, and resolving to access the Sacrament of Penance has to be one of the fundamental parts of Lent. Let that burn an indelible mark in your brain and in your heart as we finish up with our special Lenten aspiration:
Of course, the break only makes sense if you've been actually doing something that calls for a break. If you're going about your life "business as usual," you don't deserve a break, right? So what about it? How did you do in your Lenten discipline so far? Did you dive right in on Ash Wednesday, plan in hand, ready for some prayer, fasting, and almsgiving? Or is it taking some time to get down to business? If, perchance, you haven't even put any thought into exactly what your commitment to prayer, fasting and alsmgiving will be during Lent, well, take this time to do that. It's never too late. But if you've begun with full guns blazing, you'll likely enjoy the break.
Besides easing up on ourselves, Sunday might be a good time to take a moment to think about this whole idea of Lent being a penitential season. What's it mean? What's it for?
Well, penance is, simply, "an outward expression of repentance for having done wrong." So, have you done anything wrong lately? If so (and who hasn't?) you need penance. Pretty simple and straightforward so far. You don't have to even be a Catholic to get this. Of course, for us Catholics, penance is also a sacrament: the Sacrament of Penance, or Confession. Since sacraments provide us with that essential life-giving gift of grace, it only makes sense that we'd access the sacraments as often as possible. These days most of us Catholics do that by receiving Holy Communion on Sunday, if not during daily Mass. But shockingly few of us bother to access the Sacrament of Penance. How about you? Have you been to confession lately? No? How about getting there soon, like this week? Seriously, if Lent is a penitential season, the Sacrament of Penance kind of comes with the territory, doesn't it? Forget about the fact that most priests and bishops don't talk much about the importance of Confession these days. Forget the fact that, in most churches, confessions are only offered for a half hour or hour on Saturdays - usually before the anticipated evening Mass - if it's regularly offered at all. Us Catholic men at work can treat this the same way we would any difficult or seemingly impossible obstacle to getting the job done: Figure it out!
And let's get this straight: Going to confession is more important and urgent that any important and urgent task we've got to tackle in our work lives. In case you're not sure about the importance and urgency of getting to and making a good confession, here's some authentic teaching of the Catholic Church about the subject (secondary source: The Catholic Encyclopedia):
As a means of regaining grace and justice, penance was at all times necessary for those who had defiled their souls with any mortal sin. . . . Before the coming of Christ, penance was not a sacrament, nor is it since His coming a sacrament for those who are not baptized. But the Lord then principally instituted the Sacrament of Penance, when, being raised from the dead, he breathed upon His disciples saying: 'Receive ye the Holy Ghost. Whose sins you shall forgive, they are forgiven them; and whose sins you shall retain, they are retained (John 20:22-23). By which action so signal and words so clear the consent of all the Fathers has ever understood that the power of forgiving and retaining sins was communicated to the Apostles and to their lawful successors, for the reconciling of the faithful who have fallen after Baptism. (from the Council of Trent, Sess. XIV, c. i)
Whether our priests or bishops take this teaching to heart anymore, the fact remains, the power of forgiving and retaining sins was communicated to the Apostles and to their lawful successors, for the reconciling of the faithful who have fallen after Baptism. Our Blessed Lord Himself took the initiative to institute this Sacrament. So get with the program and get to Confession.
Look, unless you're without sin, you go to Confession, tell the priest your sins, and he gives you a penance, e.g., "Say three Hail Marys." You do your penance, your soul is cleansed of all its sins. Of course, if you're like most of us, you then go about your business and eventually you slip and fall a few times again, despite your firm purpose of amendment to not sin again. So what do you do? You go to Confession again...and again...and again. Get it?
Now, some of you are likely already regularly accessing the Sacrament of Penance. But if you're not, Lent presents you with an oh-so-obvious reason to not only get to Confession once, but to develop the habit of regular Confession. The thing about this Holy Season is, if you take it seriously and practice your Lenten discipline, special graces will flow to you. And one of those graces will be - if you need it - the actual grace to help you get off your butt and get to Confession now and on a regular basis in the future.
Well, that's enough for this first Sunday of Lent. Focusing on and thinking about the concept of penance, and resolving to access the Sacrament of Penance has to be one of the fundamental parts of Lent. Let that burn an indelible mark in your brain and in your heart as we finish up with our special Lenten aspiration:
We adore Thee, O Christ, and we bless Thee.
Because by Thy holy Cross, Thou has redeemed the world.
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