Sunday Meditation: It's not too early to prepare for Lent!

 

Christ Crowned with Thorns (c. 151) by Jan Mostaert

Those who grew up before Vatican II may remember the long preparation for Lent and Easter, the holiest season in the liturgical calendar. It began last Sunday with Septuagesima Sunday, the ninth Sunday before Easter. Already, the faithful are encouraged to begin to mortify themselves and put on a penitential spirit. There is certainly plenty to do penance for in these troubling times.

As I was praying the sorrowful mysteries last Friday I took out one of my art books on the life of Christ. Meditating on the third mystery I focused on  Jan Mostaert's image of Christ. It spoke to me of the compassion He has for sinners. Look at his eyes, bloodshot from weeping, as the tears flow down his face. He isn't weeping for Himself, for the agony of the passion or the pain of betrayal. He weeps for sinners, for you and me. How can we not join our tears to His and pray, like little Jacinta of Fatima, for poor sinners beginning with ourselves. If only Mary would show them the vision of hell, Jacinta told Lucia. Perhaps then they would repent. They wouldn't presume that "all will be saved."

Repentance begins with ourselves, weeping for the sins of our past life and those of the present. Thomas a Kempis reminds us that:

We are often defiled by many sins, enmeshed in our own passions, disquieted by a multitude of fears, overwhelmed with unceasing cares, distracted with curiosities and endless vanities, blinded by errors, burdened by labors which wear us down, vexed by temptations, weakened by worldly pleasures and sometimes tormented by poverty and want.

When will there be an end of these miseries. When shall we be set free from the bondage of sin and vice?

Years ago I read a book by Dominican Father Simon Tugwell. One thing from that book has remained with me. Part of the cross we carry, he wrote, is the fact that we carry it so badly. Acknowledging that is an invitation to humility. We are faulty vessels, cracked pots in fact. But Jesus can mold our lumpy clay into something beautiful. Perhaps with the repair we'll be more beautiful than the original. Always remember the great love of the forgiven woman kneeling at Christ's feet. Had she never sinned would she have loved Jesus enough to kneel there weeping and anoint him with her tears and perfume? And so let us ask with Thomas a Kempis: 

When, O Lord, will You occupy all my thoughts so that I find in You my full measure of joy? When shall I live in true liberty, free of the impediments of mind and body? Above all, when will be that peace so desired by all human beings -- firm and undisturbed within and without, secure on all sides?

When indeed? Peace and happiness: isn't that for which we all long? We can experience it here and now.if we truly desire it. Jesus said that, "The Kingdom of God is within you." But that is only true if we are in the state of grace and seeking to conform ourselves to the will of God. 

And that's what this holy season does for us. It encourages us to seek a closer walk with the Lord through prayer, penance, and almsgiving. It's not too early to make a plan for Lent and begin it now before Ash Wednesday. The fruit will be peace and joy and the confidence that eternal life waits for us at the end of the journey. Help us, Lord, to walk faithfully with You.

May Jesus Christ be praised!