Preparing For Lent On This Sexagesima Sunday

On this Sexagesima Sunday, we pick up on last Sunday's initial stab at preparing for Lent. As noted last time, any serious Catholic likely has some awareness of the coming of Lent. And with that, the next logical step would be to make a plan: what will I do this Lent that incorporates the Three Pillars of Lent: Prayer, Fasting, Almsgiving.

Rather than wait for Ash Wednesday and hurriedly make something up, give it some consideration now. Maybe make a list of items that would qualify in each category.

A quick reminder for those of us who follow the newfangled rather than the traditional Liturgical Calendar: Septuagesima, Sexagesima, and Quinquagesima Sunday are exclusive to the traditional. For centuries we Catholics were given the benefit of these Sundays to spur us on in our preparation for Lent before it arrives, rather than waking up on Ash Wednesday and finding ourselves smack dab in that Holy Season.

And so we turn again to the Rule of St. Benedict for some wise words to guide us here. Our reference is the Prologue to the Rule. We'll find these words will help us to take seriously the spiritual discipline that will help us to cooperate with the special graces God provides in this most special Holy Season.

"Let us therefore , gird our loins with faith and the performance of good works...let us ask the Lord with the prophet: Lord, who shall dwell in thy tabernacle, or who shall rest upon they holy hill?(Ps 14)...let us hear the Lord answering and showing us the way to that tabernacle and saying: He that walketh without blemish and doth that which is right; he that speaketh truth in his heart, who hath used no deceit in his tongue, nor done evil to his neighbour, nor believed ill of his neighbour(Ps 14). He that taketh the evil spirit that tempteth him, and casteth him and his temptation from the sight of his heart, and bringeth him to naught; who graspeth his evil suggestions as they arise and dasheth them to pieces on the rock that is Christ. Such men as these are not puffed up on account  of their good works, but judging that they can do no good of themselves and that all cometh from God, they magnify the Lord's work in them, using the word of the prophet: Not unto us, O Lord, not unto us, but unto they name give the glory. (Ps 113)"

"Gird our loins" means to prepare ourselves. That's the point of our little "gesima" series as Lent approaches. St. Benedict tell us what we are to gird our loins with: faith and the performance of good works. We can stop there and ask ourselves just how strong is our faith, just how often we apply ourselves to good works. These two alone could be the fertile ground in which we cast the seeds of the Three Pillars of Lent: prayer, fasting, almsgiving. We might focus on strengthening our faith, on acts of charity.

If we read the rest of this passage, we find we must be without blemish - a high standard for most of us, eh? And if we're not sure what "without blemish" means, there follows a list of what blemishes we may be covered with. In an age when talk of sin - even by our own priests - is rare if not verboten, it does us well to know that none of us is without blemish. And the appended list - if we read it carefully - likely applies to many if not most of us.

Indeed, even the saints were not without blemish, so we're in good company. And lest we think that at some point, they were wiped clean and never had to endure the struggle against temptation, and their personal faults, think again. What distinguishes them is their readiness to acknowledge their faults, their failings and immediately turn to God seeking forgiveness - and then to begin again, in the secure knowledge of God's Mercy.

We can do this too, if we truly desire to become saints. And if we have not considered the possibility, even committed ourselves to the struggle for sainthood, perhaps this Lenten Season will be our time to make some progress.

Dear St. Benedict gives us this by way of motivation:

"...the Lord daily expects us to make our life correspond with his holy admonitions. And the days of our life are lengthened and a respite allowed us for this very reason, that we may amend our evil ways."

If we have not yet understood that the purpose of our life is to know, love, and serve God, our Lenten discipline - whatever it may be for each of us - can serve to increase our understanding and give us the strength to live as God intends us to live.

Let's take some time to continue the preparations we began last Sunday. Lent draws ever closer.

 

Happy Sexagesima Sunday!