A Quinquagesima Sunday Thought About the Coming of Lent

Guess what: Lent is coming. Ash Wednesday arrives this week, only few days from now.

 

If you attend the Novus Ordo Mass, there's a good chance you may be surprised. There's no real mention of Lent in the liturgy. And if your priest doesn't take it on himself to help you prepare, Lent just kind of jumps at you, almost out of the blue.

Not so if you attend a traditional Latin Mass. Traditionally, the three Sunday's preceding Ash Wednesday prepared us for Lent. These are dubbed Septuagesima, Sexagesima, and, today, Qunquagesima. The priest began wearing purple vestments two Sundays ago, just as he will throughout Lent. The Liturgy helps to prepare us. And it's likely the priest will have at the least mentioned the word "Lent" in his homilies, if not actively helped us to prepare.

But no matter your Sunday circumstances, Lent will arrive this Wednesday.

We won't attempt to provide Lenten prep here. If we take our Catholic Religion seriously, we've either begun to prepare, or - depending on our individual circumstances - will at least do our best to be ready with some sort of Lenten observance that includes the "Big Three" Prayer, Fasting, Almsgiving - a/k/a the Three Pillars of Lent.

We won't dive into specific suggestions about what we'll do and/or abstain from doing. Again, that's not something to rattle off in a few paragraphs. It takes prayerful consideration, and should be quite specific to each individual. But here's one thing we can all share in our Lenten discipline: whatever sacrifices we make, whatever special practices we include in our prayer life, our objective will be to grow closer to Jesus Christ. His Sacrifice on the Cross saved us from our sins. Increasing our love for Him should take center stage. (Of course, that's always the case; but Lent gives us a chance to refresh, even fire up our love.)

So Lent can give us a special opportunity to shift our focus from self to Jesus, to make God the center of our life, as He always should be. If our Lenten discipline helps us in this, it will have served its real purpose.

With that in mind, here's a prayer in the form of a poem from Father Thomas of Jesus (1529-1582).

Waiting for the Lord

Grant me grace
O my God and sovereign Good
To find more joy in Thee than in all creatures
More than in health and beauty
More than in glory and honor
More than in power and riches
More than in knowledge and friendship
More than in reputation and praises
More in fine than all Thou canst give me
Whether visible or invisible
For Thou are infinitely more lovable
Than all Thy blessings
Thou alone art most high
Most powerful, most beautiful, most noble
Thou are a true paradise
And paradise without Thee would be exile
My heart can find perfect peace in nothing
But in Thee alone
Thou knowest it, O Lord
Therefore thou hast invented admirable means
Of abiding in me
That I might abide in Thee
Thou seekest me when I forget Thee
Thou comest to me when I fly from Thee
When I depart from Thee Thou dost threaten.

O Jesus
Most pure Spouse of my soul
When shall I be delivered from myself
That I may dwell in Thee
When will the happy moment come
That I may be overwhelmed with Thy perfections
And may taste how sweet Thou art
When shall I give myself entirely to Thee
That I may be drowned in Thy love
And may no longer feel anything of myself
Behold me in Thy presence
Let the voice of my poverty plead for me
Better than my own
Hear that voice, O my God
And make haste to come
To Thy poor and unworthy servant
Thou art my joy
Without Thee I cannot be content.

Happy Quinquegesima Sunday!