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Dear
Sisters and Brothers in the Lord,
Today is
the First Sunday of Lent. In the early Church the annual feast of Easter
was the time when new members were initiated into the Christian
community. Those preparing for baptism, known as 'catechumens',
fasted for two days beforehand. Gradually this time of preparation
lengthened until, by the fourth century, it had become set at 40 days.
Augustine explained that the authority of the 40 days comes from the
time that Christ spent in the desert and from the fasts of Moses and
Elias. There has been some variation in counting the 40 days over
history. Around the fifth century it became established as the period of
40 days before Holy Thursday -- not counting Sundays, which are never
days of fasting.
At this
time it was also given the name 'Lent', from an old English word
meaning 'to lengthen' which, because it was the time when the
short winter days were gradually growing longer, was the name given to
the season we call spring. Spring, of course, is the season when Lent
occurs in the northern hemisphere.
This is the
time for catechumens to make their final preparations for initiation;
Lent was a period of preparation for penitents who would be reconciled
with the Christian community on Holy Thursday. Other members of the
church journeyed with the catechumens and penitents during these 40 days
through fasting, almsgiving and prayer.
The
catechumenate collapsed when the pattern of initiation changed and it
became the norm for infants rather than adults to be baptized. As a
consequence, Lent lost its baptismal focus and became associated almost
exclusively with penance. This is why many people associate Lent
exclusively with acts of self-denial, like 'giving up' a favorite food
or pastime.
The second
Vatican council restored the baptismal focus of this season. Paragraph
109 of the Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy describes Lent as
being “marked by two themes, the baptismal and penitential” and calls
for “more use to be made of the baptismal features proper to the Lenten
liturgy”.
On the
afternoons of the 2nd and 3rd Sundays of Lent,
those people preparing for initiation into the Catholic Church at the
Easter ceremonies gather with their sponsors, catechists and families at
Holy Name Cathedral for the Presentation of the Creed. In this ritual,
which has been practiced from the earliest years of the Church, the 'elect'
(as the catechumens are called at this stage of their journey) hear
Cardinal George or one of our auxiliary bishops recite to them the great
statement of our faith that dates from the Council of Nicea in 325CE.
They are asked to commit the Creed to memory and to recite it publicly
before professing their faith in accordance with that Creed on the day
of their baptism.
During Lent
we are all on a journey as we prepare to celebrate the paschal mystery
at the Easter Triduum and continue that celebration throughout the 50
days of the joyful Season of Easter.
Let give
our hearts and minds to the Lord this Lent.
Fr. Joe |
