Mar
01
2022
By Anonymous (not verified)
By Br. Stephen J., MIC
"Remember that you are dust, and to dust you shall return."
On Ash Wednesday, we begin each Lent with this reference to Genesis 3:19, in which the original sin of Adam receives the punishment of death. The ashes sprinkled or smudged on our forehead remind us of our fallen state and of this universal tragedy we all must undergo.
Sprinkling ashes on one's head was a traditional sign of mourning in Israel and other ancient Near Eastern cultures. Ashes symbolize our weakness and shortness of life. Whether in time of war or peace, of pandemic or flourishing, of famine or prosperity, each of us must die. Our 40-day preparation to celebrate the Paschal Mystery - Christ's Passion, Death, and Resurrection - reminds us that, through His merciful becoming man, even Jesus, the Son of God, suffered and died.
We don't like to think about death very much. By nature, fear and aversion to death makes perfect sense. We were made to live! Death represents the loss of what we love in this world: family and friends, meaningful work and leisure, pleasure, power, and possessions. Furthermore, death is a total defeat of nature. The life which nature gives is lost, the tight-knit fibers of flesh are unraveled, and the form of the human body crumbles. Nothing physical is left except molecules to be built up into new bodies.
Our nature, which aims at self-preservation, rebels against death. Even Scripture says that the mercy of God in creating us did not include death: "God did not make death, nor does He rejoice in the destruction of the living" (Wis 1:13).
Through the Paschal Mystery, however, the true character of suffering and death is revealed. It is not a dead end, but a door to a specific other life. As St. John Paul II taught in Evangelium Vitae (The Gospel of Life), "The Gospel of life is at the heart of Jesus' message. ... When he presents the heart of his redemptive mission, Jesus says: 'I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly' (Jn 10:10)." Christ's death points to the life of Heaven, in which the souls of departed saints are ceaselessly praising His mercy right now. He suffered death in order that " ... through death he might destroy the one who has the power of death, that is, the devil, and free those who through fear of death had been subject to slavery all their life" (Heb 2:14-15).
If by nature we fear death, by the grace given us through Jesus, we can have holy fearlessness.
Christ's Resurrection, however, offers an astounding hope, unlike that of any other religious belief: that we receive our bodies back, risen and glorious. The mercy of God does not promise us happiness apart from the body or some reincarnation to a better life in this world. Rather, His glorified body is the first sign of "a new heaven and a new earth" (Rev 21:1), in which our bodies, glorified like His, will live forever. In other words, not only is death not final, but by His Redemption, it will be transcended by both body and spirit.
In the seasons of Lent and Easter, we ponder, profess, and proclaim Christ's saving mystery above all. Whatever we give up for Lent or deck out for Easter, we do it in remembrance of Him, just as Our Lady would. We remember not a historical event but a living Person, Whose story is just as relevant today as 2,000 years ago, just as at the dawn of time when God swore to the serpent, "I will put enmity between you and the woman, between your seed and hers" (Gen 3:15). This remembrance (like the Eucharistic "anamnesis") makes the past present again, as if really making alive in our own day what happened 2,000 years ago.
We celebrate Jesus' death and resurrection not simply as it was, but as it is, not simply as a historical event from our distant past, but as a living reality of mercy that continues to transform us and make us holy.
This reality is so central to Christianity that the Church treats those three days - Holy Thursday, Good Friday, and the Easter Vigil - as one long day, called the "Sacred Triduum." The Church extends the observance of Christ's Passion, Death, and Resurrection, however, even beyond the Sacred Triduum. Lent begins six weeks before Holy Thursday, and the Easter Season continues 50 days afterward, to Pentecost Sunday. Just as we commemorate the death of Jesus during Lent, we celebrate His Resurrection during the Easter season.
We mourn now so that we may be comforted soon. We imitate His poverty now so that we may inherit the kingdom of God with Him. We fast meekly now, on Ash Wednesday and all Lenten Fridays, so that we may inherit the earth along with its Lord. We submit to the hardships of this world, so that we may become worthy of the new heavens and the new earth, in which our glorified bodies will be perpetually united in the one communion of the Body of Christ.
Now, as you consider what your Lenten penance should be, I have one big recommendation: do not give up something that you plan to return to after Lent. Make a change now that you would like to keep. As a college chaplain I knew once said: "Giving up only chocolate for Lent is for children." He would encourage students, "Eat chocolate for Lent. But eat it to remind yourself of what you are really giving up," such as binge-watching news or TV shows, envying others' gifts, or forming cliques or selfish friendships. We could add a few in our own day: worldly fear, unhealthy isolation, a refusal to forgive and to correct others, or any vice that you find obstructing your walk toward God in charity.
Here are some options for Lenten resolutions that you might consider this year:
- Attend daily Mass.
- Pray the Rosary (or another Rosary) daily, meditating on the mysteries with Our Lady and/or St. Joseph.
- Limit your consumption of news on TV and the web, and listen instead to talks or music with Catholic themes, such as our Marian podcasts.
- Start a journal of things to thank God for every day.
- Meditate on the Scriptures with Mary and/or Joseph briefly, twice every day. (Ven. Archbishop Fulton Sheen expressed his daily Scripture reading with a simple slogan: "No Bible, no breakfast; no Bible, no bed.")
- Find opportunities to do works of mercy in your local community, particularly the Corporal Works of Mercy, helping the poor, needy, and sick.
"Remember that you are dust, and to dust you shall return."
On Ash Wednesday, we begin each Lent with this reference to Genesis 3:19, in which the original sin of Adam receives the punishment of death. The ashes sprinkled or smudged on our forehead remind us of our fallen state and of this universal tragedy we all must undergo.
Sprinkling ashes on one's head was a traditional sign of mourning in Israel and other ancient Near Eastern cultures. Ashes symbolize our weakness and shortness of life. Whether in time of war or peace, of pandemic or flourishing, of famine or prosperity, each of us must die. Our 40-day preparation to celebrate the Paschal Mystery - Christ's Passion, Death, and Resurrection - reminds us that, through His merciful becoming man, even Jesus, the Son of God, suffered and died.
We don't like to think about death very much. By nature, fear and aversion to death makes perfect sense. We were made to live! Death represents the loss of what we love in this world: family and friends, meaningful work and leisure, pleasure, power, and possessions. Furthermore, death is a total defeat of nature. The life which nature gives is lost, the tight-knit fibers of flesh are unraveled, and the form of the human body crumbles. Nothing physical is left except molecules to be built up into new bodies.
Our nature, which aims at self-preservation, rebels against death. Even Scripture says that the mercy of God in creating us did not include death: "God did not make death, nor does He rejoice in the destruction of the living" (Wis 1:13).
Through the Paschal Mystery, however, the true character of suffering and death is revealed. It is not a dead end, but a door to a specific other life. As St. John Paul II taught in Evangelium Vitae (The Gospel of Life), "The Gospel of life is at the heart of Jesus' message. ... When he presents the heart of his redemptive mission, Jesus says: 'I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly' (Jn 10:10)." Christ's death points to the life of Heaven, in which the souls of departed saints are ceaselessly praising His mercy right now. He suffered death in order that " ... through death he might destroy the one who has the power of death, that is, the devil, and free those who through fear of death had been subject to slavery all their life" (Heb 2:14-15).
If by nature we fear death, by the grace given us through Jesus, we can have holy fearlessness.
Christ's Resurrection, however, offers an astounding hope, unlike that of any other religious belief: that we receive our bodies back, risen and glorious. The mercy of God does not promise us happiness apart from the body or some reincarnation to a better life in this world. Rather, His glorified body is the first sign of "a new heaven and a new earth" (Rev 21:1), in which our bodies, glorified like His, will live forever. In other words, not only is death not final, but by His Redemption, it will be transcended by both body and spirit.
In the seasons of Lent and Easter, we ponder, profess, and proclaim Christ's saving mystery above all. Whatever we give up for Lent or deck out for Easter, we do it in remembrance of Him, just as Our Lady would. We remember not a historical event but a living Person, Whose story is just as relevant today as 2,000 years ago, just as at the dawn of time when God swore to the serpent, "I will put enmity between you and the woman, between your seed and hers" (Gen 3:15). This remembrance (like the Eucharistic "anamnesis") makes the past present again, as if really making alive in our own day what happened 2,000 years ago.
We celebrate Jesus' death and resurrection not simply as it was, but as it is, not simply as a historical event from our distant past, but as a living reality of mercy that continues to transform us and make us holy.
This reality is so central to Christianity that the Church treats those three days - Holy Thursday, Good Friday, and the Easter Vigil - as one long day, called the "Sacred Triduum." The Church extends the observance of Christ's Passion, Death, and Resurrection, however, even beyond the Sacred Triduum. Lent begins six weeks before Holy Thursday, and the Easter Season continues 50 days afterward, to Pentecost Sunday. Just as we commemorate the death of Jesus during Lent, we celebrate His Resurrection during the Easter season.
We mourn now so that we may be comforted soon. We imitate His poverty now so that we may inherit the kingdom of God with Him. We fast meekly now, on Ash Wednesday and all Lenten Fridays, so that we may inherit the earth along with its Lord. We submit to the hardships of this world, so that we may become worthy of the new heavens and the new earth, in which our glorified bodies will be perpetually united in the one communion of the Body of Christ.
Now, as you consider what your Lenten penance should be, I have one big recommendation: do not give up something that you plan to return to after Lent. Make a change now that you would like to keep. As a college chaplain I knew once said: "Giving up only chocolate for Lent is for children." He would encourage students, "Eat chocolate for Lent. But eat it to remind yourself of what you are really giving up," such as binge-watching news or TV shows, envying others' gifts, or forming cliques or selfish friendships. We could add a few in our own day: worldly fear, unhealthy isolation, a refusal to forgive and to correct others, or any vice that you find obstructing your walk toward God in charity.
Here are some options for Lenten resolutions that you might consider this year:
- Attend daily Mass.
- Pray the Rosary (or another Rosary) daily, meditating on the mysteries with Our Lady and/or St. Joseph.
- Limit your consumption of news on TV and the web, and listen instead to talks or music with Catholic themes, such as our Marian podcasts.
- Start a journal of things to thank God for every day.
- Meditate on the Scriptures with Mary and/or Joseph briefly, twice every day. (Ven. Archbishop Fulton Sheen expressed his daily Scripture reading with a simple slogan: "No Bible, no breakfast; no Bible, no bed.")
- Find opportunities to do works of mercy in your local community, particularly the Corporal Works of Mercy, helping the poor, needy, and sick.
EFBK
