Home / News & Publications / Michigan Catholic News / 2008 / Catholics prepare for Lent
Catholics prepare for Lent
by Joe Kohn of The Michigan Catholic
Published February 1, 2008
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Joe Kohn | The Michigan Catholic
Fr. Lawrence Kaiser, pastor of Sacred Heart Parish in Dearborn, reads a blessing over a palm burning prior to Ash Wednesday as eighth-grader Anne Okonowski looks on. The ashes, Catholic leaders say, remind Catholics of their mortality as they prepare to die and rise again in Christ through Lent and Easter. |
Metro area — Students from Sacred Heart School in Dearborn stand by outside the parish church as Fr. Lawrence Kaiser reads a blessing, a pile of palms from last year's Palm Sunday burning before them.
"The ashes remind us of our mortality, that we are here just for a while," Fr. Kaiser says after the blessing. "They remind us of not only mortality and the limitedness of life, but also the following of the Lord and the ways of dying to ourselves, so that we are closer to Jesus and His dying and rising."
This weekend, several parishes in the Archdiocese of Detroit will be burning palms to prepare for Ash Wednesday, Feb. 6, which starts the Lenten season. During the 40-day period that leads up to the Triduum and Easter Sunday, Church leaders encourage Catholics to intensify their prayer, penance and almsgiving. It's also a time for prayer and preparation for those who will be entering the Church on Easter Sunday.
Because of the lunar calendar, Lent this year is nearly as early as it can come. But the purpose of the season, local priests say, remains timeless.
Why so early?
Unless you're more than 94 years old, you haven't experienced a Lenten season this early in your entire life — Ash Wednesday is Feb. 6. It's all predicated on Easter Sunday.
Easter Sunday is always the first Sunday, following the first full moon, following the vernal equinox (the beginning of spring). The vernal equinox is the evening of March 20, which the Church recognizes to be March 21.
The earliest Easter can come, then, is March 22. Accordingly, the earliest Ash Wednesday can come is Feb. 5.
The last time Ash Wednesday fell as early as Feb. 6 was 1913. The last time it fell on Feb. 5 was 1818. |
"We go from day to day in our routine, and sometimes we don't get a chance to step back and say 'This is what I do every day — but where's the big picture? Do I need to change direction?'" says Fr. Christopher Maus, pastor of St. Daniel Parish in Clarkston. "I think Lent is useful for that. It offers us an opportunity, like spring, to start again."
Fr. Maus recalls a favorite reflection he's read about Lent, the word for which originated from an Old English term meaning "spring." Aptly, he says, the season gives Catholics a chance to consider their spiritual lives and renew their walks with Christ.
"Lent isn't something to be afraid of or dread," he says. "It's a time that gives us an opportunity."
Many Catholics have been raised with the notion that Lent is a time to "give something up," depriving themselves of an activity or food that they love.
There's a good reason for this kind of sacrifice, says Fr. Sylvester Taube, pastor of St. Columban Parish in Birmingham. Oftentimes, especially in a wealthy country such as the United States, people fill their lives with entertainment, material goods or foods that "substitute" for God's love.
"Sometimes, we're not accepting of God," Fr. Taube says. "We're not accepting of what He gave us and we feel we need more to make us happy."
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The Church requires fasting and abstinence on Ash Wednesday and Good Friday, and abstinence on every Friday during Lent. The guidelines for fasting and abstinence are as follows:
Fasting:
The law of fasting allows one full meal per day, with two lighter meals. The quantity of food taken at the two lighter meals should not exceed the quantity taken at the full meal. The drinking of ordinary liquids does not break the fast.
Fasting is required of those who are 18 years old, through the time they are one day older than their 59th birthday.
Abstinence:
The law of abstinence forbids the consumption of meat. This does not include eggs, milk products, or condiments made with animal fat. Soups flavored with meat, and meat gravy and sauces also are allowed.
Abstinence is required of anyone over 14 years of age or older. |
Lenten sacrifices are a way of setting aside whatever exists in life that comes between a person and the Creator, he says.
"In Lent, we have to overcome that tendency to think we know better than God," he says. "We try to be more appreciative of what God gave us and more trusting in God."
Parishes offer many avenues to Catholics who want to improve their relationships with Christ during Lent. Many offer Lenten retreats, days of reflection, spiritual talks, and extra time of Eucharistic adoration and the sacrament of Reconciliation.
Most parishes offer the Black Book, a daily devotional for the Lenten season. Catholic book stores, too, usually have books that guide Catholics in prayers and reflections during Lent.
Some parishes take on their own special initiatives. Many take on a special cause for almsgiving. Some, such as Sacred Heart of the Hills Parish in Auburn Hills, take on spiritual endeavors that encompass the whole parish.
At Sacred Heart of the Hills, explains pastor Fr. James Mayworm, parishioners write on cards something about their life situation and the "heaviest cross" they carry. At the beginning of Lent, the parishioners randomly trade the cards.
From that point and throughout the season, each parishioner will be praying for the burden of another.
"They do their fasting, tithing and praying in Lent not only for catechumens, but for that particular person," Fr. Mayworm says. "They forget about their own cross, so to speak, because somebody else is going to pick that up."
Fr. Mayworm says this helps the community think of Lent as more than just a time to improve themselves individually, but to become a stronger Body of Christ.
"Lent is sometimes thought of as a season of self improvement. It's far more than that," he says. "This gets people out of self-improvement mode and it drives us in that direction to become others-conscious.
"And it comes a mighty Holy Week, because we really have been on this journey together."
Indeed Lent is an important journey that the Church the world over celebrates together. Fr. Mayworm says the season of Lent could be explained to some Protestants who would ask a Catholic, "Have you been born again?"
The answer, he says, is a resounding "Yes."
"We begin to die on Ash Wednesday, dying to ourselves, dying for others, so that we might rise again on the Easter Vigil," Fr. Mayworm says, "Richly, every year, the Church takes us through 40 days of new birth."
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