The Church’s celebrations are like pearls. Pearls start with an itch in an oyster. The oyster surrounds the itch with layers of mother of pearl, which eventually becomes the rounded pearl we prize. Lent develops in the same way. It began with the belief that God has forgiven our sins and given us life through the death and rising of Jesus. That led Christians to dedicate a special feast to celebrate Jesus’ dying and rising. That was surrounded by layers of story, prayer and other Christian practices.
SERIOUSNESS
These included fasting, a regular part of Jewish and later of Christian practice. Fasting marked seriousness. It was associated with acknowledging sin and communal renewal of faith. The fast was then surrounded by other stories relevant to Jesus’ death. They included the story of God freeing the Jewish people from slavery in Egypt, which was celebrated in the Jewish feast of the Passover. The link to the Passover was also central in the Gospel story of Jesus’ death.
The length of the Lent fast was also shaped by stories. The people of Israel spent 40 years in the desert before entering the promised land. Jesus spent 40 days fasting and praying in the desert before beginning his public ministry. In time the fast was lengthened from five weeks to 40 days.
When the Roman Empire tolerated Christianity and Christians returned to Jerusalem, another layer was added. During the fast they celebrated Jesus’ last days from his entrance to Jerusalem, to the Last Supper, imprisonment, and crucifixion. These ceremonies were gradually adopted by the rest of the Church.
A final layer was placed after Lent became the favoured time for people to prepare for Baptism at Easter. It symbolised their dying with Christ in baptism and rising to a new Christian life. During Lent, too, Christians also confessed publicly serious sins and dressed in sackcloth and ashes before being received back into the Church at Easter.
This history is reflected in the sombre colours of Lent and in the sprinkling of ashes on Ash Wednesday, the final layer in the pearl of the celebration of Easter.
MANY JOURNEYS
If Lent has grown like a pearl, it also brings together many journeys: first, God’s journey with the human race through creation and through calling the people of Israel to be his own. It focuses especially on Jesus’ journey with us on earth and particularly on his final journey to eat which his disciples, to the humiliation of arrest torture and death, and to rising from the dead.
Lent also marks our human journey of entering more deeply into God’s journey with us through Christ. In our Lenten journey we ask ourselves what matters to us. We also reflect on God’s calling to follow Jesus, on our sinfulness, and on how God overwhelmed our sins by the gift of forgiveness. Lent is a journey of growing in love.
Finally, Lent is a shared journey. It is shared silently in our hearts in prayer. It is also shared in our association with people by reflecting together on the Gospel, joining with people who are preparing for Baptism, joining in our recognising our weakness and receiving forgiveness, and by sharing in the joy and light of Easter. There the pearl layered in Lent is seen in its full lustre.