Taking up our crosses

As I wrote about Christmas for the December issue, I thought I might write on Lent this month. Lent begins on Ash Wednesday, Feb. 25. I believe that most Christian churches observe Lent as a commemoration of the crucifixion of Christ and the great feast of his resurrection.

Many books have been written in various languages on the subject of Lent, so I shall try to give a very general description of its significance from a Christian point of view.

As far as I remember, the word "Lent" comes from the Anglo-Saxon word "lenten," which means "spring" as a preparation for the "summer" of Easter - the feast of the resurrection of Christ after the "winter" of his passion and death.

Lent lasts for a period of 40 days - from Ash Wednesday to Easter Saturday. But why 40 days? The reason, almost certainly, is that the Gospels tells us that, before beginning his public life, Jesus spent 40 days and nights in the desert, fasting and praying. (Luke 4). So, we Christians are encouraged to spend 40 days - not necessarily in the desert - preparing for the commemoration of the Passion and Resurrection by devoting more time to prayer and some form of penance.

I would not take it upon myself to suggest the penances people should do. The different churches usually have their own forms of prayers and penance for their members. But, I am reading a spiritual book at present which has a chapter on how to make Lent meaningful, so I decided to quote some of its suggestions, which could be helpful:

"No day is without its cross. Not a single day in which we have not to shoulder the Cross of the Lord."

"The way to our personal sanctification should daily lead us to the Cross ... This way is not a sorrowful one, because Christ himself comes to our aid and, in his company, there is no room for sadness."

"Occasionally, we will meet the Cross in some difficulty, in a serious and painful illness, in an economic disaster, in the death of a loved one. However, we will usually find the Cross each day in the sort of petty annoyances that may occur at work and which often present themselves to us through the people around us. It may be something unexpected, the difficult characters of the people with whom we have to live or work, plans which perhaps have changed in the last minute, stubborn materials or instruments of work which fail us just when we need them. Many Christians lose their joy at the end of the day not because of big reverses, but because they have not known how to sanctify the tiredness caused by work or the little snags and minor frustrations which have arisen during the day. Learning to carry our daily crosses is the true secret of sanctity."