In my last column, I noted that the holy season of Lent would soon be upon us and now we are just six days away from Ash Wednesday and the Church’s 40 days of preparation leading up to the Easter feast and the Christian world’s celebration of the Resurrection of the Lord. Interestingly, in more than one article concerning the Lenten season I have encountered this question: “How will you grow in faith this Lent?”
This question has given me pause to consider my own living out of the Lenten season, as well as how can I help others make it more fruitful? From my grade school days, I remember my mother taking my siblings and me to the Lenten daily Mass at 6:45 a.m. and making sure we joined in the Stations of the Cross on the Fridays of Lent. I remember as well, the family rosary after dinner and my parents encouraging us to give up something for Lent — this might be candy or sweets during the week, but I also remember them suggesting less fighting and bickering in the household, putting more effort and less complaining into our chores, and making a sacrifice from our allowance (10 cents, later 25 cents) to the parish Lenten folder and/or Rice Bowl. Of course, meatless meals — my favorite being fish sticks and Tater Tots — were the normal fare on the Fridays of Lent, along with Ash Wednesday.
I know in one sense, it might seem that I am taking a trip down Memory Lane, but actually I am reminding myself of how these spiritual exercises actually helped me to grow in faith! They were the means where I was invited to think about my relationship with God and its effect on my daily life. Nowadays, I could say that the Lents of my life were and are occasions for me to grow in virtue.
What is the meaning of virtue for a Christian? In the “Compendium” of the Catechism of the Catholic Church #377, it defines virtue as “a habitual and firm disposition to do the good. ‘The goal of a virtuous life is to become like God’” (Saint Gregory of Nyssa).
This disposition toward the good — toward God — is nurtured by human virtues which the Compendium describes as “habitual and stable perfections of the intellect and will that govern our actions, order our passions and guide our conduct according to reason and faith. They are acquired and strengthened by the repetition of morally good acts and they are purified and elevated by divine grace. The principal human virtues are called the cardinal virtues, under which all the other virtues are grouped and which are the hinges of a virtuous life. The cardinal virtues are prudence, justice, fortitude, and temperance” (#378 & #379).
Notice how these cardinal virtues reflect the Lenten disciplines of prayer, fasting and charitable works as they invite us deeper into the life of God. Herein for me lies the constant battle believers face, as did St. Augustine: “Lord, make me pure — Lord, make me holy … just not yet!” Augustine knew what God wanted from him but was enjoying the life he lived. We, too, can be wary of giving our lives to God, because God might take us up on the offer!
That is why underpinning the human virtues are the theological virtues of faith, hope and love. These virtues as the Compendium tells us “have God himself as their origin, motive and direct object. Infused with sanctifying grace, they bestow on one the capacity to live in a relationship with the Trinity. They are the foundation and the energizing force of the Christian’s moral activity and they give life to the human virtues. They are the pledge of the presence and action of the Holy Spirit in the faculties of the human being” (#384).
In a certain sense, our talk about “virtues” might sound as if one is reading a service manual. However, a wonderful example of their application to our daily lives is found in Pope Francis’ Sunday Homily on Feb. 5th to the Church in South Sudan (see related story on page 13). He stated: “Brothers and sisters, it is clear what Jesus means by asking us to be the light of the world: We, who are his disciples, are called to shine forth like a city set on a hill, like a lamp whose flame may never be extinguished. In other words, before we worry about the darkness surrounding us, before we hope that the shadows around us will lighten, we are called to radiate light, to give brightness to our cities, our villages and homes, our acquaintances and all our daily activities by our lives and good works. The Lord will give us strength, the strength to be light in him, so that everyone will see our good works, and seeing them, as Jesus reminds us, they will rejoice in God and give him glory. If we live like sons and daughters, brothers and sisters on earth, people will come to know that all of us have a Father in heaven. We are being asked, then, to burn with love, never to let our light be extinguished, never to let the oxygen of charity fade from our lives so that the works of evil can take away the pure air of our witness. This country, so beautiful yet ravaged by violence, needs the light that each one of you has, or better, the light that each one of you is.”
This radiating the light of Christ — this allowing the light of Christ to grow in our lives — is what the Lenten journey is all about! It leads to the Easter Vigil where once again we are invited not only to renew our baptismal commitment, but to keep the light of Christ burning brightly in our homes, communities and indeed the world! The way you and I can continue to kindle this flame of God’s love in our lives is through fueling it with a virtuous life — with a life that is emboldened by prayer, fasting and almsgiving!
Take time this Lent for prayer opportunities such as daily Mass, the Rosary, the Stations of the Cross, grace before meals, Eucharist Adoration and Scripture study. Make room in your life for God and neighbor not just by abstaining from meat on the Fridays of Lent and fasting on Ash Wednesday and Good Friday, but also by fasting from the computer screen or the television screen. Let these moments of freedom provide you with space not only for God, but also family and friends. In the Letter of James, one reads that “faith without works is dead/lifeless” (Jas 2:26). Thus, our charitable work is none other than putting virtue into practice by doing good and growing in our godlikeness, in the Divine Image in which you and I are made.
Let me conclude by assuring you of my prayers for a Lent full of growth and sharing with you the Lenten regulations that are meant to assist us in practicing virtue:
Abstinence — Catholics over 14 years of age are bound to the obligation of abstinence. Abstinence is to be observed on Ash Wednesday and on all Fridays of Lent. On days of abstinence, meat may not be used at all. In the Diocese of Syracuse, a dispensation from abstinence is being given for the Memorial of St. Patrick on Friday, March 17th.
Fast — Catholics over 18 and up to the beginning of their 60th year are bound to the obligation of fasting. Ash Wednesday and Good Friday are the days of fasting. On these days, only one full meal is allowed. Two other meatless meals, sufficient to maintain strength, may be taken according to each one’s needs, but together they should not equal another full meal. Eating between meals is not permitted, but liquids including milk and fruit juices are allowed.
Regarding other weekdays of Lent, participation in daily Mass and the voluntary observance of fasting is recommended.
Commendable, particularly during Lent, is generosity to local, national and world programs of sharing our abundance, the traditional Lenten Devotions and all the self-denial summed up in the Christian concept of “mortification.”
