"But when the pages of church history are turned even further back , Lent is found to have been a joyful time when alleluia was the accepted theme and worshipers stood for the prayers to show their joy, because of Christ who loved them enough to give his life for them and who had redeemed them from their miserable condition of ignorance of what God was like." (Holy Island, p. 12.)
As Kennedy reminds us, around "568 when the Lombards invaded Italy, all Christians were called on to observe a special season of fasting and prayer; but the invasion lasted so long some of the special supplications used became fixed in the liturgy of the Church and remained to give Lent a sad and melancholy face." We, the people, have turned Lent into a chest-beating, we-are-not-good-enough-to-stand-before-God campaign. Lent, at least according to Kennedy, seems to have been a time of celebration. Can you imagine Lent as a time where we began to celebrate Christ's death and resurrection and, then continue the celebration through the Feast of the Resurrection, instead of just beginning the celebration at the Feast of the Ressurection? Talking about putting ourselves on an Island; around the year 568, we began to separate ourselves so far from the meaning of Lent for our own gain that we never returned to our celebration.
As was written on page 12, "There is something wrong with our religion if it is all taken up with our Lents of respectable self-improvement. Our faith must be outgoing, to the down and out and to the up and out. We should seek self-improvement only in order to serve the Church's mission better." This is a by-product of our being on our Island. We have become so focused on ourselves that we think we are actually doing something to help ourselves by observing Lent. We think that God will like us more, find us more respectable, find us more worthy when in fact that is the wrong attitude to hold toward Lent. Lent is about making straight our paths with God; to focus not on ourselves, but on our relationship with God. To God be the Glory, not to us may God give the Glory.
This Lent, observe a holy Lent, celebrate a holy Lent...and understand that Lent is full of joy! Alleluia! Thanks be to God.
2 comments:
Interesting but not too surprising considering how few fixed rituals stay constant during such a long period of time. I think though that if we are to recapture that joy in Lent, we might want to rethink our readings for Ash Wednesday at least. The ones I always hear tend to focus on fasting and petitence. And the prayers we say do as well. Looking forward to picking up this book if I can get to church today through the snow!
I completely agree! I'm struggling with today's readings focusing on fasting and penitence, but the idea that Lent leads us to Joy. Kennedy continues this discussion over the coming weeks. It is very interesting and engaging. I think it will be enjoyed. Looking forward to seeing you at St. B's today!
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