Good Medicine for Lent

By Sister Mary Sarah Macht, RSM, MSN, FNP-BC

On March 2, 2022, Ash Wednesday, the Catholic Church enters the Season of Lent. Lent is a time of prayer and penance in preparation for the great feast of Easter, but it is also like a medicine for each one of us to help restore us to health and to rectify areas of our lives that need healing. Traditionally, the actions of Lent fall into three categories: prayer, fasting, and almsgiving. We might ask, however: why are these important? Let us take a look.

No Strange Gods | Casting all Idols from their Thrones

So the king took counsel, and made two calves of gold. And he said to the people, “You have gone up to Jerusalem long enough. Behold your gods, O Israel, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt.” … And this thing became a sin, for the people went to the one at Bethel and to the other as far as Dan.[i]

See the whole passage | 1 Kings 12:25-33 | Jeroboam’s Golden Calves

Jeroboam’s Golden Calves Then Jeroboam built Shechem in the hill country of Ephraim, and dwelt there; and he went out from there and built Penuel. And Jeroboam said in his heart, “Now the kingdom will turn back to the house of David; if this people go up to offer sacrifices in the house of the Lord at Jerusalem, then the heart of this people will turn again to their lord, to Rehoboam king of Judah, and they will kill me and return to Rehoboam king of Judah.” So the king took counsel, and made two calves of gold. And he said to the people, “You have gone up to Jerusalem long enough. Behold your gods, O Israel, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt.” And he set one in Bethel, and the other he put in Dan. And this thing became a sin, for the people went to the one at Bethel and to the other as far as Dan. He also made houses on high places, and appointed priests from among all the people, who were not of the Levites. And Jeroboam appointed a feast on the fifteenth day of the eighth month like the feast that was in Judah, and he offered sacrifices upon the altar; so he did in Bethel, sacrificing to the calves that he had made. And he placed in Bethel the priests of the high places that he had made. He went up to the altar which he had made in Bethel on the fifteenth day in the eighth month, in the month which he had devised of his own heart; and he ordained a feast for the people of Israel, and went up to the altar to burn incense.

As baptized Catholics, we are endowed with a priestly character by baptism. This enables us to worship God and to enter the life of the Sacraments. Our praise and worship of God is due to Him, but it adds nothing to Him. Prayer, praise, and worship change us. It gives us a right perspective on our relationship to God. It is easy to develop problems in terms of making priorities in one’s life. Any of us can develop little “idols.” Lent is a time for us to get to the root of the problem—our little idols—and turn back to God with all our hearts. The mark made with the imposition of ashes is part of this as we hear in the liturgy, “Remember, you are dust and to dust you will return.”[ii]

The Fast I Desire | Conversion of Heart

Is not this the fast that I choose:
to loose the bonds of wickedness,
to undo the thongs of the yoke,
to let the oppressed go free,
and to break every yoke?
Is it not to share your bread with the hungry,
and bring the homeless poor into your house;
when you see the naked, to cover him,
and not to hide yourself from your own flesh[iii]

See the whole text | Isaiah 58:6-11

“Is not this the fast that I choose: to loose the bonds of wickedness, to undo the thongs of the yoke, to let the oppressed go free, and to break every yoke? Is it not to share your bread with the hungry, and bring the homeless poor into your house; when you see the naked, to cover him, and not to hide yourself from your own flesh? Then shall your light break forth like the dawn, and your healing shall spring up speedily; your righteousness shall go before you, the glory of the Lord shall be your rear guard. Then you shall call, and the Lord will answer; you shall cry, and he will say, Here I am. “If you take away from the midst of you the yoke, the pointing of the finger, and speaking wickedness, if you pour yourself out for the hungry and satisfy the desire of the afflicted, then shall your light rise in the darkness and your gloom be as the noonday. And the Lord will guide you continually, and satisfy your desire with good things, and make your bones strong; and you shall be like a watered garden, like a spring of water, whose waters fail not.

What is the purpose of fasting? While some will extol the physical health benefits of fasting, there are spiritual benefits as well when it is done with the right disposition and attitude. Depriving oneself of something good helps train our wills to seek the reality beyond self-will and pleasure. As it cuts against my self-will and I make an offering of that act (that is, I offer it to God as an act of worship), fasting can help me train my focus on God. These acts of love and offering for God should also be manifest in how I treat those with whom I live, that is, my neighbor.

With the theme of the Old Testament verse above, it does us no good to “fast,” if all that comes from it is own will or willfulness. Fasting is about helping us to look beyond ourselves to the needs of others.

Works of Mercy | Called to Love as We have been Loved

But love your enemies, and do good, and lend, expecting nothing in return; and your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High; for he is kind to the ungrateful and the selfish. Be merciful, even as your Father is merciful.“Judge not, and you will not be judged; condemn not, and you will not be condemned; forgive, and you will be forgiven; give, and it will be given to you; good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, will be put into your lap. For the measure you give will be the measure you get back.”[iv]

See the whole text | Luke 6: 27-38 | Love for Enemies - Judging Others

Love for Enemies “But I say to you that hear, Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who abuse you. To him who strikes you on the cheek, offer the other also; and from him who takes away your cloak do not withhold your coat as well. Give to every one who begs from you; and of him who takes away your goods do not ask them again. And as you wish that men would do to you, do so to them. “If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners love those who love them. And if you do good to those who do good to you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners do the same. And if you lend to those from whom you hope to receive, what credit is that to you? Even sinners lend to sinners, to receive as much again. But love your enemies, and do good, and lend, expecting nothing in return; and your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High; for he is kind to the ungrateful and the selfish. Be merciful, even as your Father is merciful. Judging Others “Judge not, and you will not be judged; condemn not, and you will not be condemned; forgive, and you will be forgiven; give, and it will be given to you; good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, will be put into your lap. For the measure you give will be the measure you get back.”

Jesus is the ultimate example of the one who gives even to those who reject Him. Well before his Passion, He is teaching us in these passages above from St. Luke’s Gospel to love everyone generously. For Jesus says to His disciples, “You received without pay, give without pay.” [v] He has given us everything in our Baptism; He loves us with an everlasting love. He sends us forth to be His love in the world. We are called to let this love transform us so that we can be a loving expression of His presence in the world and to proclaim the Kingdom of God.

[i] “1 Kings 12:25-33 RSVCE .” Bible Gateway. Accessed February 21, 2022. https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=1+Kings%2B12&version=RSVCE.

[ii][ii] “Ash Wednesday Liturgy According to the Roman Rite of the Catholic Church.” Ash Wednesday. Accessed February 20, 2022. http://www.liturgies.net/Lent/ashwednesdayrc.htm.

[iii] “Isaiah 58:6-11 – Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition.” Bible Gateway. Accessed February 20, 2022. https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Isaiah+58%3A6-11&version=RSVCE.

[iv] “Lk 6:27-38 RSVCE.” Bible Gateway. Accessed February 21, 2022. https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=%2BLk%2B6%3A27-38&version=RSVCE.

[v] Matthew 10:9 RSVCE.

Posted for Ash Wednesday

March 2, 2022

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