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"The spirit immediately drove him out in to the wilderness.
He was in the wilderness forty days tempted by Satan;
and he was with wild beasts; and the angels waited on him"
- Mk 1:12-13
Lent is a period of 40 weekdays from Ash Wednesday to Holy Saturday. The forty days represent the time Jesus spent in the desert, where, according to the Bible, he endured temptation by Satan. Lent concludes at the Great Vigil of Easter.
 We are all well aware that the forty days of lent has begun. All of us have started fasting, practicing penance. Spending more time in prayer, meditating on the life, death and sufferings of Jesus.
In this season of Lent, we have to look in to ourselves, our hearts and to search for Christ. It is a call to a renewal in the spirit. The Lenten season starts with a call for conversion. This means emptying ourselves of false riches and values that we may grow according to true Christian values.
True Conversion, which is the aim of Lent, means forgoing sin and sinful ways. Mt. 16:26 Jesus says "For what will it profit them, if they gain the whole world but forfeits their Life?"
And in LK 15:7 Jesus says, There will be more Joy in Heaven over one sinner who repents then over ninety-nine righteous persons who need no repentance".
And in Mt 19:24 "it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle then for some one who is rich to enter the kingdom of God".
Lent is a time of penance, asceticism and spiritual discipline. It is a time of prayer, and the primary aim of lent is to prepare the faithful for the celebration of the death and resurrection of Christ. The demand of the season is not the observance of some external penance of fasting but instead it lies in the spiritual renewal of a person in preparation for Easter, hence lent is not an end in it self rather it lends us to the Paschal feast.
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Forty Days of Lent |
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The story of Jonah reminds us of the Scriptural origin of Lent, the forty days of Penance. The forty days is a time of purification, a time when our closer association with God makes us more worthy of Him and brings us spiritual growth. Forty days is a sacred tradition in Holy Scripture. The Lord asked Moses to come up to Him on the mountain. Moses was to prepare himself for receiving the ten commandments for the instruction of his people. Moses stayed on the mountain, in the company f the Lord, the forty days.
After his baptism, Jesus was led by the Holy Spirit to the wilderness, where He fasted and prayed for forty days. The forty days that God has given us for prayer and repentance are sacred and precious and full of meaning. Like the Ninevites, we should thank God for giving us the forty days for our conversion. Forty days of Lent: a chance to repent and come personally close to God. |
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Ash Wednesday |
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Ash Wednesday is the first day of Lent. It falls on a different date each year, because it is dependent on the date of Easter;
Ash Wednesday gets its name from the practice of placing ashes on the foreheads of the faithful as a sign of repentance. The ashes used are gathered after the Palm Crosses from the previous year's Palm Sunday are burned.
Then you will call, and the LORD will answer;
You will cry, and He will say, 'Here I am '
If you remove the yoke from your midst,
The pointing of the finger and speaking of evil - Is 58:9 |
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