For Some Lenten Reflection

Sunday next is the first Sunday of Lent. We have entered into the annual 40-day period of preparation leading to the great feast of Easter which falls this year on Sunday 21st April. When the writer was in school long ago, the emphasis was on what one ought not to do during that period, e.g. eat chocolate until the big break-out with the Easter egg on Easter Sunday. The emphasis today is less on denying oneself certain things than on doing things for others, e.g. the Trócaire Lenten campaign which asks us to do what we can for the poor. The purpose of the practices of 'fast and abstinence' of old was, of course, to bring people to reflect on the fundamentals of life, fundamental in the sense of talking about life's great questions -- why we're here, what we should do while we're here, and where we're destined to go in the end. Pausing for thought or reflection like this is in itself a deep and religious thing; it can come about at expected moments and from expected sources or at and from unexpected ones.  The first kind come from, say, the Pope or (Arch)bishop, while the second are those which, shall we say, cross one's path -- you find them rather than they, so to speak, seeking you out.

Two texts in the 'expected' category are Pope Francis's 'Message for Lent 2019' as well as sermon for Ash Wednesday here, and Archbishop Martin's reflection on Lent focusing on the sacrament of Baptism. A text in the 'unexpected' category is a poem by the 17th century Anglican clergyman Robert Herrick which this writer has long known about but not read closely for some considerable time. The subject of Lent has made him look it up again.  'It is a fast to dole / Thy sheaf of wheat / And meat / Unto the hungry soul.'

See, again, this week's newsletter for more good advice from Pope Francis.  He recommends fasting from things like grudges and bitterness and (I like this) : Fast from worries and have trust in God.

Whatever sources it springs from, may the reflection they awaken in you be for your inner enrichment over the season of Lent and beyond.