Lent and Baptism

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.

The focus on baptism in Lent is ancient. For the earliest Christians, Lent was a time to concentrate on penance and 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 “Lent is a preparation for the celebration of Easter. 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 discovered 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 baptism, may we, like creation, awaken to new life, that we may sing the melody of God’s love to all the world.

Change

As I write this, the weather is cloudy and gray with temperatures in the 30s and a chance of freezing rain. As you read this, the weather may likely be sunny and clear with temperatures in the 60s. Changes in the weather can stress our immune system, making us more susceptible to viruses. Sickness is our body’s way of resisting change. Change is never easy and if it is difficult to manage change that comes from the outside, it is perhaps even more difficult to handle, let alone generate inner change. That is why most people never change.

The season of Lent calls us to this inner change. On Ash Wednesday, we heard from the prophet Joel calling us to change, “Even now, says the Lord, return to me with your whole heart.” When we were marked with ashes, we were reminded of our call to change, “Repent, and believe in the gospel.”

Return, repent, reconcile and renew are words that we hear in the liturgies of Lent. A common factor among these words is the prefix, re-. Re- is used to express the meaning “again,” but it is also used to indicate withdrawal or backward motion. During Lent, we are called to change by going back to childlike innocence, simplicity, and joy.  

Prayer helps us to return to childlike innocence. Prayer prompts us to withdraw. As Jesus said, “When you pray, go to your inner room, close the door, and pray to your Father in secret.” Prayer nurtures our relationship with God. Prayer also nurtures our relationship with ourselves. Prayer peels away the masks we wear and the layers of ego defenses we think we need to survive. Prayer tells us that it’s ok to be who we really are. Prayer changes us.

Fasting helps us to return to childlike simplicity. Fasting challenges us to trust that God will provide all that we need. Fasting helps us to sort our priorities. Because the digestive system doesn’t have to work as hard, we have more energy to focus on what really matters. Fasting creates a hunger for God. Fasting changes us.

Almsgiving helps us to return to childlike joy. Almsgiving moves us to acknowledge how much we have been given and that fills us with gratitude and praise.  Almsgiving frees us from fear by compelling us to surrender what we have and who we are to others. Almsgiving requires humility. As Jesus said, “When you give alms, do not let your left hand know what your right is doing, so that your almsgiving may be secret.” True humility always leads to joy. Almsgiving changes us.

May this holy season move us to practice these three Lenten disciplines, prayer, fasting and almsgiving, so that we may come to Easter changed and renewed with childlike innocence, joy and simplicity.

The Date of Easter

“Easter is early this year” is a statement that has been heard a lot lately. The date of Easter, which, in the Western Church can fall anywhere between March 22 and April 25, falls on March 27 this year. The date of Easter was determined by the Council of Nicea in 325, which decreed that Easter was always to be celebrated on the Sunday on or after the first full moon of spring.

Both the Western Church and the Orthodox Church use this formula to calculate the date of Easter. However the Western Church uses the Gregorian calendar, the standard calendar for much of the world, and the Orthodox Church uses the older Julian calendar.

The two churches also differ on the definition of the spring equinox and the full moon. The Western Church doesn’t use the actual or astronomically correct date for the spring equinox, but a fixed date (March 21). And by full moon it does not mean the actual astronomical Full Moon but the "ecclesiastical moon," which is an approximation, based on tables created by the church. These tables allow the date of Easter to be calculated in advance rather than be determined by actual astronomical observances, which are less predictable. The Orthodox Church, on the other hand, sets the date of Easter according to the actual, astronomical Full Moon and the actual equinox as observed along the meridian of Jerusalem, site of the Crucifixion and Resurrection.

Further, in order to maintain the Biblical sequence of events, the Orthodox Church always celebrates Easter after Passover, because Jesus entered Jerusalem to celebrate Passover prior to his Crucifixion and Resurrection. In the Western Church, Easter sometimes precedes Passover by weeks.

As a result of these various methods used to arrive at the date of Easter, the Orthodox Church typically celebrates Easter much later than the Western Church. This year, Easter in the Orthodox Church falls on May 1.

But that could change in the next decade. New discussions are underway that would fix the date of Easter throughout the Christian world. Pope Francis, the leader of the Western Church, the Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I (head of the Greek Orthodox Church), the Coptic Orthodox Pope Tawadros II and the Archbishop of Canterbury, Reverend Justin Welby, are all working towards a common date. They believe that a fixed date for Easter, perhaps the second or third Sunday of April, would not only unify Christians around the world, it would make it easier to coordinate with civil and school calendars.

No matter when Easter falls on the calendar, we are called to live with Easter hope. As St. Augustine said, "We are an Easter People, and Alleluia is our song!" That is something we can celebrate every day of the year!

A Liturgical Workout

Gyms are busier than normal this month, filled with people who promised themselves a better body in 2016. Everyone who has attempted to bench press, Zumba, or kickbox their way to a new figure knows that getting in shape and staying in shape takes much more than simply showing up at the gym. A good workout begins with an adequate warm-up to prepare the muscles for intensive exercise. The workout itself should be a challenge. As my friend once said, “Don’t be afraid to sweat.” After the workout, a cool-down is necessary to return heart and breathing rates to normal. But staying in shape is as much about what happens outside the gym, e.g., eating the right foods and making other healthy choices.

Whenever we celebrate the liturgy, we exercise our spiritual muscles. Like a physical workout, a productive liturgical workout depends on much more than simply showing up at church once a week.

Getting the most out of liturgy depends first on an adequate warm-up. The liturgical documents tell us that we should come to Mass with “proper dispositions,” with hearts ready to pray, with minds focused to pay attention, and with spirits hungry to feast on the living God.  Here are a few suggested pre-Mass warm-ups:

Read the Scripture readings beforehand.

Allow yourself and/or your family enough time to get to Mass.

On the way to Mass, think about everything for which you have to be thankful.

When you get to church, welcome any newcomers you might notice.

Reach out to someone who is going through a tough time.

During Mass, participate with your whole being. Sing the songs and pray the prayers with passion. Listen attentively. Allow the readings, the music, the symbols, and the rituals to engage your spirit, move your soul, soften your heart, and transform your way of being.

For a cool-down after Mass, reflect on what the liturgy meant to you. Think about the reading, the music, the symbol or the ritual that affected you the most. Discuss the question of the week. Sing the psalm refrain.

Exercise those spiritual muscles outside the liturgy. Pray in the Church’s morning or evening prayer. Celebrate weekday Mass. Read the daily Scripture readings. Study your faith. Take an adult education class. Practice the Works of Mercy.

A good physical workout leaves us exhausted but exhilarated, with a sense that we have accomplished something. A good liturgical workout also leaves us exhausted but exhilarated, with a sense that God has accomplished something in us.

Mercy in the Liturgy

As we celebrate this Jubilee Year of Mercy, we might look to others for inspiration, those whose lives demonstrated the mercy of God. One such person was Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. whom we remember this weekend. Dr. King, whose father and grandfather were Baptist Ministers, was largely inspired by his faith, specifically, the words and the actions of Jesus in the Gospels. Jesus’ commands to ‘love your neighbor as yourself’ and to ‘love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you’ taught King powerful lessons about God’s mercy.  

If we are attentive, we too can learn lessons about God’s mercy every time we celebrate Mass. God’s mercy is a subtle theme throughout the liturgy, but there are many times when mercy is explicitly mentioned. One of those times is during the Penitential Act when we pray, “Lord have mercy.” This prayer is not a means to beat ourselves up because of our sins. Rather it is a prayer of praise that acknowledges that God’s mercy is greater than any act of sin. A prominent liturgist likened the Penitential Act to a poor widow living in the slums who just discovered that she won the lottery. The only response she could utter was, “Lord, have mercy.”

In the Gloria, we sing “…you take away the sins of the world, have mercy on us.”

In the proclamation of the Scriptures, we hear about God’s merciful love throughout salvation history, how God chose over and over to show mercy over judgment to a sinful humanity.

In the Eucharistic Prayer, we pray for God’s mercy, “Remember also our brothers and sisters who have fallen asleep and all who have died in your mercy.”

In the Lord’s Prayer, we pray that God will show us mercy, and that God will help us to be merciful to others, “Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us.”

Before we approach the table of the Lord, we pray, “Lamb of God, you take away the sins of the world: have mercy on us.”

In Holy Communion, we encounter the intimacy of God’s merciful love poured out for us in the death and resurrection of Jesus.

Finally, we are sent forth to be God’s mercy in the world, “Be merciful, just as your heavenly Father is merciful. Go in peace.”   

As we continue this Year of Mercy, let us pray that we, like Dr. King, will be inspired by the words and rituals of our faith, upholding the vision of peace and justice for all of humanity.