Lenten Reflection
Reflection for the first week of Lent....from Capuchin friar Marty Pable
“Is It Lent Already?” Martin Pable, Capuchin
Some years ago Bishop Ken Untener of Saginaw wrote a pastoral letter to his people that began: “Over the years, for whatever reason, we have let Lent slip. I’m calling us to get it back.”
We receive ashes on Ash Wednesday, and before we know it—it’s Good Friday. What happened to the most sacred season in the Liturgical Year? It can get lost amid basketball’s “March Madness,” spring planting and gardening, and Easter shopping. Nothing wrong with any of these. It’s just that Lent may get trumped in the process.
What if we tried taking a couple of small steps? One way to begin is to pray. Karl Barth once wrote: “To clasp the hands in prayer is an act of uprising against the disorder of the world.” We could pray each day for an end to the violence that continues to afflict the children of God everywhere.
Bishop Untener asked us to “take Lent back.” That will take different forms for different people. He asked Catholics to make a real effort to receive the Sacrament of Reconciliation during Lent. This is a powerful way for us to do an honest “performance review” of our Capuchin life, to confess those areas of our life where we need forgiveness and ask for the divine help we need to improve.
For others of us, Lent could be an ideal time to seek reconciliation with someone with whom we have had a falling-out. For others, “taking back Lent” could mean “fasting” from television and other forms of escape, and “feasting” on Scripture or some other solid spiritual reading.
We friars want to be in solidarity with all our fellow Christians who will be earnestly trying to make this Lent a genuine time of spiritual conversion and growth.