A Sexagesima Sunday Thought to Help Us Prepare fo Lent
We're approaching Lent. The traditional calendar of the Church reminds us of this on the three Sundays preceding Ash Wednesday. Today is the second such Sunday: Sexagesima Sunday. While the new calendar has abandoned these three preparation or reminder Sundays, interestingly, some Protestant sects have kept them. Go figure.
Then again, there's nothing stopping any of us Catholics from following the traditional calendar. If you're one who attends the traditional Latin Mass (TLM), you're already doing that. But whatever Mass you attend, whatever calendar you generally follow, you've got nothing to lose by at least being aware of the purpose of Septuagesima, Sexagesima, and Quniquagesima Sunday. For centuries, they did their yeoman's job of helping us get ready for the penitential season of Lent. For example, last Sunday, Septuagesima Sunday, the priest wore purple, as he will today and next Sunday. The purple that pervades Lent begins ahead of time, as a visual reminder. You can't miss it.
In her wisdom, Holy Mother Church kept such preparation baked in the cake - at least she did until 1970 when the Novus Ordo Mass was introduced, along with the new calendar. The wisdom of her traditional approach: We didn't have to rely on any individual priest to take it upon himself to remind us Lent was coming, to help us prepare. That's more or less what happens these days when you attend the Novus Ordo Mass. In fact, from experience, you hardly hear about Lent anymore before Lent begins on Ash Wednesday if you exclusively attend the Novus Ordo Mass.
What are the priests celebrating the Novus Ordo thinking when they don't make it a point to call our attention to Lent's approach? Maybe they think we're all on top of things and don't need prompting. OK, perhaps some - maybe even many - Catholics who attend the Novus Ordo know that Ash Wednesday's coming soon. (By the way, this year it's February 26th.) But, still, wouldn't a little help preparing now go a long way once Lent actually arrives?
I don't know about you, but if I wait for Ash Wednesday to arrive before making my plans for Lent, days, if not weeks, could go by before I set things straight when it comes to those special pious practices we're called to perform during Lent: Almsgiving, Prayer, and Fasting. Some call these the "Three Pillars of Lent." If we think of them as such, wouldn't you want to construct them and have them in place before you're already days or weeks into the Holy Season?
The last two Sundays we've been talking about the importance of eating well and keeping in shape - both for the body and for the soul. Maybe we think of these three preparation Sundays as "work out" days. We're getting in shape for Lent.
In any case, as long as we're all on the same page, it's time to prepare. Think about the pillars you want to construct to help you have a holy Lent.
Almsgiving helps us focus on charity. It means not only giving money, but also giving ourselves primarily in charitable thoughts, words, and actions. For the latter, consider your family, your friends, you neighbors, your co-workers. Is it possible you may not always be charitable towards any of these at any time? Hmmm...I know what my answer would be here.
Prayer shouldn't be something unique to Lent. But during Lent, we make the effort to increase our time devoted to prayer as well as keep ourselves recollected - less distracted - when we do pray. There's an incredible palate of possibilities here. Maybe you could attend Mass one or more days during the week; or say the rosary every day; or perform the Stations of the Cross on Fridays or other days. The list, as you might imagine, goes on. Give your special Lenten prayers some prayerful consideration.
Fasting has kind of fallen out of favor in recent decades. I'm not sure why. Yeah, I get the idea that giving up chocolate while you're still being a creep doesn't make sense. So, sure, prioritize being more gentle, more caring, more loving. But does that have to entail giving up giving up something?
Look, I get it: Most of us don't like to to fast. But guess what? That makes fasting even more important. Maybe think of it this way: You'll be doing something you don't like for someone you love. That someone? God, of course.
Just think of where Lent will lead us: to the Passion, Death, and, finally, the Resurrection of Our Lord. It only takes a moment to think - seriously and deeply - about the Passion and Death of Our Lord Jesus Christ to convince you that He loves you. And knowing that, returning His love makes all the sense in the world. Doesn't it? While none of us will be fasting in a manner that can be compared in any way to what Our Lord endured for our sake's, fasting does fall into the broad category of suffering. So you're responding to Our Lord's suffering with a little of your own. I think He'll appreciate it. Don't you?
So let's get on with it. Sunday gives us the perfect platform to spend some time thinking about what we'll do for Our Lord during Lent. And if what we'll do for Him benefits others in our lives, so much the better. Not only that, but you can rest assured that our efforts will benefit us as well: We'll get out of ourselves - that selfish circle in which so many of us spend our time. With God's grace, by the time Lent is over, we'll have become less self-centered, opening the door to a closer, deeper relationship with God.
Worth the effort?
Then again, there's nothing stopping any of us Catholics from following the traditional calendar. If you're one who attends the traditional Latin Mass (TLM), you're already doing that. But whatever Mass you attend, whatever calendar you generally follow, you've got nothing to lose by at least being aware of the purpose of Septuagesima, Sexagesima, and Quniquagesima Sunday. For centuries, they did their yeoman's job of helping us get ready for the penitential season of Lent. For example, last Sunday, Septuagesima Sunday, the priest wore purple, as he will today and next Sunday. The purple that pervades Lent begins ahead of time, as a visual reminder. You can't miss it.
In her wisdom, Holy Mother Church kept such preparation baked in the cake - at least she did until 1970 when the Novus Ordo Mass was introduced, along with the new calendar. The wisdom of her traditional approach: We didn't have to rely on any individual priest to take it upon himself to remind us Lent was coming, to help us prepare. That's more or less what happens these days when you attend the Novus Ordo Mass. In fact, from experience, you hardly hear about Lent anymore before Lent begins on Ash Wednesday if you exclusively attend the Novus Ordo Mass.
What are the priests celebrating the Novus Ordo thinking when they don't make it a point to call our attention to Lent's approach? Maybe they think we're all on top of things and don't need prompting. OK, perhaps some - maybe even many - Catholics who attend the Novus Ordo know that Ash Wednesday's coming soon. (By the way, this year it's February 26th.) But, still, wouldn't a little help preparing now go a long way once Lent actually arrives?
I don't know about you, but if I wait for Ash Wednesday to arrive before making my plans for Lent, days, if not weeks, could go by before I set things straight when it comes to those special pious practices we're called to perform during Lent: Almsgiving, Prayer, and Fasting. Some call these the "Three Pillars of Lent." If we think of them as such, wouldn't you want to construct them and have them in place before you're already days or weeks into the Holy Season?
The last two Sundays we've been talking about the importance of eating well and keeping in shape - both for the body and for the soul. Maybe we think of these three preparation Sundays as "work out" days. We're getting in shape for Lent.
In any case, as long as we're all on the same page, it's time to prepare. Think about the pillars you want to construct to help you have a holy Lent.
Almsgiving helps us focus on charity. It means not only giving money, but also giving ourselves primarily in charitable thoughts, words, and actions. For the latter, consider your family, your friends, you neighbors, your co-workers. Is it possible you may not always be charitable towards any of these at any time? Hmmm...I know what my answer would be here.
Prayer shouldn't be something unique to Lent. But during Lent, we make the effort to increase our time devoted to prayer as well as keep ourselves recollected - less distracted - when we do pray. There's an incredible palate of possibilities here. Maybe you could attend Mass one or more days during the week; or say the rosary every day; or perform the Stations of the Cross on Fridays or other days. The list, as you might imagine, goes on. Give your special Lenten prayers some prayerful consideration.
Fasting has kind of fallen out of favor in recent decades. I'm not sure why. Yeah, I get the idea that giving up chocolate while you're still being a creep doesn't make sense. So, sure, prioritize being more gentle, more caring, more loving. But does that have to entail giving up giving up something?
Look, I get it: Most of us don't like to to fast. But guess what? That makes fasting even more important. Maybe think of it this way: You'll be doing something you don't like for someone you love. That someone? God, of course.
Just think of where Lent will lead us: to the Passion, Death, and, finally, the Resurrection of Our Lord. It only takes a moment to think - seriously and deeply - about the Passion and Death of Our Lord Jesus Christ to convince you that He loves you. And knowing that, returning His love makes all the sense in the world. Doesn't it? While none of us will be fasting in a manner that can be compared in any way to what Our Lord endured for our sake's, fasting does fall into the broad category of suffering. So you're responding to Our Lord's suffering with a little of your own. I think He'll appreciate it. Don't you?
So let's get on with it. Sunday gives us the perfect platform to spend some time thinking about what we'll do for Our Lord during Lent. And if what we'll do for Him benefits others in our lives, so much the better. Not only that, but you can rest assured that our efforts will benefit us as well: We'll get out of ourselves - that selfish circle in which so many of us spend our time. With God's grace, by the time Lent is over, we'll have become less self-centered, opening the door to a closer, deeper relationship with God.
Worth the effort?
Happpy Sexagesima Sunday!
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