By the time this letter appears, we shall have made (and possibly broken) our Lenten resolutions. Perseverance is of the essence in the Christian life. We really need to renew our good resolutions on a daily basis, and this will sometimes mean asking God’s pardon for lapses and starting again. If for some reason we have yet to make any serious resolutions then we should certainly do so now, so that when Easter arrives we are prepared to share most fully in the life of Our Lord’s Resurrection, having united ourselves with His Passion and death through our self-denial and prayer, and above all our growth in charity, during this penitential season.
Sometimes we hear it said that it feels more meaningful to “do something positive rather than to give something up” for Lent. Traditionally, however, the Church enjoins us to do both. Lenten observance means fasting, praying and giving alms. These are practices which should characterise our lives as Christians in general, but in Lent we focus on them with greater intensity, and especially on the penitential aspect.
In our Catholic religion, there is no morbid cult of suffering for its own sake, and asceticism is always a means to an end. Denying ourselves legitimate pleasures loosens the grip that earthly goods hold over our appetites, and helps us to grow in virtue so that we are better placed, with God’s assistance, to avoid temptations to sin. Other religions and even non-religious self-improvement programmes, also recognise the benefit of self denial. For a Christian, however, mortification also holds a supernatural dimension which is rooted in Our Lord’s own Passion and death. Writing to the Colossians, St Paul says: “Now I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, and in my flesh I complete what is lacking in Christ’s afflictions for the sake of his body, that is, the church.” (Col 1.24) Obviously, it would be blasphemy to suggest that there is anything ‘lacking’ in Christ’s Passion, when one drop of His Precious Blood is more than enough to save the world many times over. On the Cross He stretched out His arms in love to offer once and for all a perfect sacrifice of infinite value. In our Baptism, however, we are united with His Passion and Death, and receive the vocation to keep dying to ourselves so that the life of His Resurrection might take ever greater possession of our hearts and souls. In the ‘Economy of Salvation’, God has ordained that the sufferings that come to us unbidden, and the mortifications that we embrace voluntarily, take on a supernatural value when united with His Sacrifice on Calvary. God is able to use our sacrifices not only for our own sanctification but also for the building up of His Kingdom on earth and the strengthening of His Mystical Body the Church.
The Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, at which the once-and-for-all Sacrifice of Calvary is made present in an unbloody fashion on the Altar, is our opportunity par excellence to ‘offer us’ any discomforts, hunger pangs and inconveniences occasioned by our Lenten penances. During the Offertory, we are invited to unite ourselves spiritually with the bread on the paten and with the wine in the chalice, offering all of our joys and sorrows, our hopes and fears – everything that we have and everything that we are – so that when the Death of Our Lord Jesus is made present by the separate consecration of the gifts, we are mystically and truly united with that Sacrifice. The priest reminds us that we are active participants in this Sacrifice when he says “Pray brethren that my sacrifice and yours may be acceptable to God the Almighty Father.” Just as the celebrant has a main intention for the Mass, so we all may bring our own intentions to the Altar – intentions for ourselves, our loved ones, the suffering and the faithful departed, confident that our aches and pains, and all the frustrations that come from living in this deranged modern world, can take on great value when united with the sufferings of our Saviour.
Mercifully, the rigours of Lent are lightened by various feast days which occur during the season, the greatest of which is the Annunciation. When the Blessed Virgin gave Her fiat to the Archangel Gabriel, She made possible our redemption, and so we honour the Mother of God, in whose womb and by whose co-operation the Word became flesh, as the Mediatrix of all Graces. In a unique manner She united Her own indescribable sufferings with those of Her Son on Calvary, and offered in union with Him His own perfect sacrifice on the Cross, earning Her the title of Co-Redemptrix. As our Mother in Heaven, She also teaches us how to share in this work of redemption ourselves, by bringing our personal sacrifices to the foot of the Cross on Calvary, and offering them with the gifts on the Altar. May the Blessed Virgin accompany us during this season, helping us to make our participation at Holy Mass ever more focused and profound so that it bears spiritual fruit in abundance.
Talking of participation, anyone concerned about the risks of catching the Coronavirus at Holy Communion should bear in mind that while we are constrained by precept to attend Holy Mass on all Sundays and Holy Days of Obligation, we are only obliged to receive Holy Communion once a year, “and that at Easter, or thereabouts.” If we are worried about spreading or contracting disease through our reception of the Blessed Sacrament, then Spiritual Communion may be made with great benefit to the soul without going anywhere near the altar rails. May the intercession of our Blessed Mother, Mediatrix of all Graces and Co-Redemptrix, protect us from all harm.
Father Julian Large