Preparing for the Easter Celebration
After receiving ashes on your forehead nearly five weeks ago, you may have been asked by a co-worker or friend about that black mark. Maybe someone confidently told you they stopped beating themselves up with fasting and stopped being a Catholic. However you responded, you probably weren’t looking forward to 40 days without your favorite food or TV show, or praying the Rosary before you go to bed. Did you wonder...why? It hurts, right? Lenten penances can be annoying, hard, and easy to forget. It’s so easy to give up, to drive to that all-you-can-eat buffet or pay a visit to Nordstrom.
If you put that question of “why” aside, or if you haven’t asked it at all, ask right now. You need to know why you’re trudging through this desert. After all, we’re responsible for our actions: if we’re the greatest gift we can give, and we’re denying things we really enjoy without reason… our sacrifice is, by definition, meaningless. Not only will we lack a compelling answer to those who reject the Church, but how will we keep going when it gets really hard?
The treasury of the Church offers a great key to our question: “eschatological tension,” which describes the Kingdom of Heaven as “already here, but not yet.” Christ came, suffered, died, and rose from the dead: He has triumphed over death. The definitive battle has been won. Were it otherwise, our fight would be in vain: how can you or I conquer the sin and death which destroys the soul and keeps us from God? Christ gives us the chance to join Him in His victory.
And yet, we live in a world not yet taken up into eternity. We still sin; we still die. Our lives are filled with movement toward God as well as many bumps in the road. The temptation which underlies all others is the temptation to turn away from God and toward the world. We’re lured to believe that our destiny is here on earth, that the meaning of our lives is based on worldly success or failure. People all around us define their lives on fame, money, “stuff,” power, sex, or a hundred other goals. Talk with those who have succeeded: many will tell you of the long hours spent, the happiness forgone, the money paid—all to get where they are now.
What can we say? What do we offer? “Athletes deny themselves all sorts of things. They do this to win a crown of leaves that withers, but we a crown that is imperishable. Thus I do not run aimlessly; I do not fight as if I were shadowboxing.” (1 Corinthians 9:25-26) Aiming for a goal is good; sacrificing for success and glory is noble. What sort of achievement are we aiming toward? What is a shadow, and what is real and lasting? What doesn’t fade, wither, or becomes forgotten? God’s eternal crown of love, uniquely crafted for each of us from the beginning of time.
We walk through Lent year after year, sacrificing “goods” of this world to keep our hearts and minds focused on The Lasting Good of Easter. This is the aim of all our actions, this is our glory. The pinch of Lent reminds us that we are on our way. We haven’t arrived. Don’t give up! Fight the good fight, and run the race to the finish!
By: Father Thomas More
