Covenants Renewed

Spring is the season of love. All of creation awakens: birds sing melodies of love, flowers emerge to embrace the sun, and June brides and grooms prepare to say “I do,” two small words that promise a lifetime of love. Our Elect and Candidates who await baptism, confirmation and Eucharist, are also preparing to say “I do” promising a lifetime of love. Along with them, the entire community prepares to say “I do,” recommitting to the promises made at baptism.

This is what Lent is all about, a 40-day retreat that prepares us to renew our baptismal covenant—our “I do” to the new covenant in Christ.

The focus on baptism in Lent is ancient. For the earliest Christians, Lent was a time to concentrate on penance and to prepare for baptism. Public penitents returned to be reconciled with the Church and adult catechumens made their final preparation for baptism. In later centuries, infant baptism replaced the baptism of adults. Because of this, the baptismal nature of Lent was diminished and overshadowed by a singular focus on penance. With the renewal of the Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults, the Second Vatican Council insisted that the focus of Lent once again be penitential and baptismal.

"The baptismal and penitential aspects of Lent are to be given greater prominence in both the liturgy and liturgical catechesis." Sacroscantum Concilium 109

The Church reminds us that

“The Lenten liturgy disposes both the catechumens and the faithful to celebrate the paschal mystery; catechumens, through the several stages of Christian initiation; the faithful, through reminders of their own Baptism and through penitential practices.” General Norms for the Liturgical Year 27

What we expect of the catechumens is that they have

“undergone a conversion in mind and in action and . . . have developed a sufficient acquaintance with Christian teaching as well as a spirit of faith and charity . . . (and) the intention to receive the sacraments of the Church.” RCIA 120

We who are already Catholic are called to a similar conversion as we prepare to recommit ourselves to our baptismal promises. Do you recall what you promised or what your parents and godparents promised on your behalf? We promised to reject the lure of evil and to embrace the love of God, with words as simple and profound as the words “I do.”

As any married couple knows, it takes a lifetime to realize the meaning of the words “I do.” These words have to be lived out and rediscovered day by day. Each Lent the Church asks us to ponder fully the promises behind these words so that our “I do” at Easter may be sincere and wholehearted. As we prepare to renew our baptismal covenant may we, like creation, awaken to new life, that we may sing the melody of God’s love to all the world.

Silence and The Liturgy

As a former intern coordinator in Washington D.C., I had the opportunity to visit Gallaudet University. Gallaudet is the only University where all programs are specifically designed for students who are deaf or hard of hearing. I witnessed students interacting, collaborating, socializing, storytelling, even laughing—all in complete silence. I have never experienced the power of silence as I did that day.

Perhaps my experience at Gallaudet was magnified because the society in which we live thrives on noise. The first thing many of us do after starting our car is to turn on the radio. Not long after we walk into our houses, we turn on the radio or the television. When we go for a walk or a run, we are usually listening to music instead of the sounds of nature. It is a challenge to strike up a conversation in a public place as most people are clad with headphones or ear-buds. 

Oddly enough, our hunger for silence grows. Coffee shops are filled with patrons seeking a hushed atmosphere. Silent retreats are booked with visitors trying to get away from the noise and chaos of everyday life.  Practices that foster inner peace, such as yoga and tai chi are as popular as ever.

The season of Lent invites us to spend some time in silence. One of the ways we can do that as a community is by experiencing silence in the liturgy. Though our liturgy is filled with the “holy” noise of words, prayers, and music, the liturgy also calls for silence—especially after the proclamation of the Word of God, the Homily and Holy Communion. As in life, we need a balance of sound and silence in our liturgies. Our Mass is so rich and overflowing with meaning, we need silence to digest it all. The liturgy invites us to be quiet, not only as individuals, but as a corporate body who, like the student body at Gallaudet, knows how to be with and for each other—even in silence.

Spring Cleaning

Every year at this time my mother would rearrange the furniture in the living room and family room and change the drapes. Then she would open the cupboards and drawers in the kitchen, remove all the dishes, glasses, cups, goblets, plates, pitchers, platters, bowls, casseroles, china, and silverware to clean them. It was as if we were preparing for the biggest banquet of the year. She called this cleansing fury spring cleaning. 

Every year at this time the Church gives us the opportunity to do some inner spring cleaning. In fact, the word “Lent” is derived from the Anglo-Saxon word meaning spring. Lent is a prime time to rearrange our priorities, to open the cupboards of our hearts and hold our egos to the light to see those areas that need to be cleaned and polished. This idea of inner cleansing or conversion has always been at the heart of Lent. In the early Church, Lent was the final leg of the journey for the catechumens preparing for baptism. It was also a time when already-baptized penitents, isolated from the assembly because of their sins, would prepare to be reconciled to God and the community. The journeys of the catechumen and the penitent were related in that both embraced a significant conversion. As the catechumen looked forward to baptism, the penitent looked forward to reconciliation, often seen as a second baptism. To this day, the focus of Lent remains both baptismal and penitential.    

It is easy to rearrange chairs and to clean dishes. Inner change is the real challenge. Therein is the good news. It is God who calls us to conversion and it is God’s transforming grace that accompanies us on the journey of conversion. Let us pray for the courage to be open to this grace that we might come to Easter, the biggest banquet of the liturgical year, with hearts cleansed and spirits renewed!

Carnival

We are days away from Ash Wednesday and that means it is Carnival time! All over the world, people are donning beads and masks to celebrate Carnival with parties, parades and pageantry.

The other name for Carnival is Mardi Gras, French for “Fat Tuesday.” Mardi Gras, the Tuesday before Ash Wednesday, is the climax of Carnival. This day is also known as Shrove Tuesday. The word “Shrove” comes from an old English word that means to be absolved from sin. Celebrating Shrove Tuesday is one way people anticipate the penance and fasting of Lent by emptying out their refrigerators and pantries to make pancakes and other delights.

Anyone who has celebrated Carnival or Mardi Gras has likely donned a mask. Whether it covers just the eyes or the whole face, a mask adds a sense of mystery that can add an extra dose of fun to any Mardi Gras fete. Masks have been used in rituals by various societies and tribes for centuries. Masks were first worn during Mardi Gras because they allowed people to escape the judgments imposed on them by society. While wearing a mask, people were free to be whomever they wanted. They could go where they wanted and mingle with whomever they wanted, including the upper class.

Carnival is not the only time masks are worn. We regularly wear invisible masks, often for the same reason as the early revelers--to avoid the judgment of others, to escape pain, to belong. Lent is a season that empowers us to take off the masks we wear and to discover who we really are. Jesus showed us how to do this. During his 40-day sojourn in the desert, Jesus was tempted to put on the masks of superiority, power, and control. He chose instead to trust in God.

During Lent, we too are called to enter our own desert experience, to bare ourselves and to remove the masks that hide who we are. May we, like Jesus, choose instead to trust in God and discover in ourselves a reflection of God who loves us just as we are.