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Lent's Special Opportunity
Lent has had varied meanings or emphases over the years, but since the fourth century it has been the time of prayer, fasting and almsgiving that has amounted to a collective retreat for the Church. Its focus is on Easter and thus is related to Baptism, the preparation of new converts to their new life of Christian living and the renewal of Baptismal promises by those who have already been baptized.
Along the way the season has emphasized fasting and penance under a monastic influence but in recent years a broader Baptismal emphasis has been restored with days of strict fast limited to Ash Wednesday and Good Friday, the beginning and end of the season.
As we begin this special time of the year, Lent is a signal for all of us to take stock of our spiritual lives and resolve to take more seriously the works of the Lord. The duration of the season has been established as six weeks with the exception of Sundays and the introduction of three days after Ash Wednesday which are clearly preparation days for the weeks ahead.
Lent is traditionally a time for Catholic Christians to resolve to “do something” special in the way of renewing or expressing our faith. Series of sermons or instructions as well as public devotions of doing the Stations of the Cross which are on the walls of every Catholic church. Individual Catholics undertake personal acts of self-denial, giving up a favorite food or practice as an act of mortification in itself and as a reminder that they are in a special time of the year.
Older Catholics can recall the days of strict “Lenten Regulations” which established daily limitations on food. These speak to an older transition, but their decline is not meant to indicate a lessened meaning to Lent.
In fact more recently we have seen the renewal of the “Scrutinies” of the public preparation of Baptism and in Rome the renewal of the special “Station Churches” for each day of Lent. Again, the renewed focus is on Baptism and Easter.
The emphasis does not let the individual Catholic “off the hook as it were.” We still have the call for special prayer. Perhaps study, fasting and almsgiving will be the marks of our collective retreat.
This week as we received Ashes, the reminder of our mortality, we must remember they not only point to the reality of the grave but also to the hope of and faith in the resurrection.
The word “Lent” does speak to springtime, as we remind ourselves so often. Springtime promises rebirth from the death and cold of winter, the joy and wonder as we emerge from the days of mortification. Let us enter into Lent with our eyes set on the happy goal of life not just as a hope but as a healthy faith in the promise of everlasting life.
Lastly, let us call to mind that Lent has already begun. It doesn’t begin in a week. We lose if we try to catch up at a later date. The time to fast and pray is now. Don’t miss out on this unique opportunity to advance in holiness.
Play Ball
“Spring Training” is a baseball ritual which had become part of our general vocabulary and consciousness at this time of the year. Spring Training is the time for pre-season preparation when professional players escape the last days of winter to retreat to sunnier climes of Florida and more recently Arizona to hone their skills and get their bodies into shape after a winter of inactivity.
The ritual remains although reasons for it have dimmed. Now baseball players work harder to stay in physical shape throughout the year, and many of them come from the Caribbean or other tropical areas rather than the Northern European origins of athletes of former times. Also air travel has made Florida or other warmer climates a mere hop rather than the extended train rides of a different era.
Once South, players work on the skills of a game that is played in picturesque parks of extensive dimensions but in a game that is often decided by inches, as an infielder covers a base, an outfielder pursues a fly ball at the crack of the bat, a pitcher’s ability to throw the ball at close to 90 miles an hour and everyone’s ability to hit the ball with the cylindrical bat. Such are the mechanics of Spring Training but beyond that is the competition to make the team.
It is a ritual of many dimensions. All other sports have their preparation or warm-up period but none measures up to the prelude to entering the “field of dreams.”
We look forward to watching our home team, the Mets, work their way back into contention in ther National East. They get their chance to avenge their playoff loss to the Cardinals when they face them on opening day, April 1.
And before too long, we’ll be into the heart of the season and that will be our beloved Brooklyn Cyclones will be opening their seventh season right here in Coney Island. What could be better than baseball in Brooklyn, where they play the game the way it was meant to be played.
Play Ball!
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