The most necessary of all seasons

Submitted on February 26, 2009

Send to friendDo we need Lent? It is the most necessary of all the seasons of the Church’s year of prayer. It is necessary for anyone who knows that perfection belongs to God alone, and we are not God. At its inception Lent may have been the season of final preparation for Baptism and initiation into the Church, but now it is as important, if not more so, for the baptized. For pagans who wanted to become believers and disciples, Lent was the final stage in their scrutiny by the Church. It is still, but now Lent is even more necessary for believers to scrutinize their own souls regarding their fidelity to living discipleship. We all need Lent. Our world is lamentably in disarray. Everyone is aware of the economic stress that grips whole nations and societies, ours particularly. Nearly everyone has been affected by the challenge of diminished assets and the economic downturn. Commentators too numerous to count decry the political dividedness of our times. They are constantly endeavoring to affix responsibility for what has happened. They would call it blame. There is no shortage of comment on the all-pervasive greed, the irresponsibility of leadership and the cramping egoism that shadows every expression of daily bad news. But nowhere has any commentator invited us to look inwardly at the failures of responsibility and moral lapses that each one hides in his own soul. We all need Lent. We are all sinners.