Celebrating Lent
Fr. Marcus Shammami
Special to the Chaldean News
Entering into the desert with Jesus
By Fr. Marcus Shammami
“Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the desert to be tempted by the devil. And He fasted forty days and forty nights…” -Matthew 4:1-2
As the season of Sawma Raba (Great Lent) begins in the Church, we must not forget the point of Lent – to prepare our hearts and minds for the glory that is the Resurrection of Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. The Resurrection of Christ is the central aspect of our faith; it is the reason why we offer our hearts to Christ as we celebrate Mass each week.
As you prepare to celebrate the Resurrection of Christ on Easter Sunday – the greatest event in all of human history, and dare I say, the entire universe – you must ready your heart to understand this key event of our faith by traveling and fasting with Jesus in the desert.
The desert is a place of simplicity. Simply put, there is not much going on in a desert – we can imagine a barren landscape where there are very few plants, not many animals, the landscape littered with rocks and dried out weeds. Going further in our imagining of the desert, there are not many hiding places or shelters in the desert to hide in. There is nowhere that one would be able to hide in the desert – everything comes to the surface.
Lent is an invitation for you to take that courageous step of going into the desert with Jesus and allowing for whatever it is that you are hiding in the darkness of your heart – whether that be your sins or your wounds – to come to the surface and into the healing light of Christ.
How do we travel with Jesus through the desert? Again, the desert is a place of simplicity. There are no distractions. In our busy 21st century lives, distraction is something at which we have exceled. Our lives at times can be a series of distractions and diversions that do not allow us to think about the bigger questions of life.
This is precisely why we need to enter into the desert with Jesus – to cut out the distractions from our life and come face to face with the dark parts of ourselves that we sometimes want to ignore; to learn more about Our Savior Jesus Christ, and to detach ourselves from the things of this dying world in order to learn to better appreciate what Jesus Christ has won for us as sons and daughters of the eternal Kingdom of God.
The Church calls us to do three things during Lent: pray, fast, and give alms.
Prayer
Lent is a time for more prayer. A life without prayer is a life without the joy of the presence of God. It is one thing to fast and to give alms, but if we are not praying, we are not living and thriving as Christians but merely surviving. This Lent, incorporate more prayer in your life to experience the joy of knowing God more and more and enter a greater relationship with Him. We are especially blessed in this day and age with so many prayer books (a favorite is My Daily Bread) and digital apps (such as the Hallow app) that help us to pray daily.
Fasting
Fasting is a penance that the Church encourages us to follow during Lent, and, from a spiritual point of view, it symbolizes our dependence on God. In fasting, we are able to put God at the center of our lives and put all else, all created things, to the side. It serves as a reminder to God and to ourselves that the things of this world do not rule over us, only God does.
Fasting from food and things, however, is only half the battle. The Bible also tells us that, together with fasting, a person must also fast from violence and oppressing others. In other words, as we fast from food and other things, we must also keep up a loving attitude towards others. Think: as we try to fast in a way that is genuine, can we truly make an effort to forgive those who have hurt us and not hold onto anger? Do not let your past wounds control you. Talk to Jesus in prayer about your hurt, your anger, and your wounds.
Almsgiving
Giving alms is, simply put, helping the poor. There is no shortage of ways in which we can give to those in most need. One thing you and your family and friends might consider this season is to give to those who were affected by the earthquakes in the Middle East. Many were impacted by this tragedy, and the Diocese, through Chaldean Catholic Charities, has been working with volunteers directly on the ground in Syria and Turkey. To donate, visit Chaldeanchurch.org.
In addition to these three central aspects of Lent, there is another spiritual practice to help you enter the desert with Jesus – what is dubbed as the 3-1-1 challenge.
3: Give up three distractions or diversions in your life that are keeping you away from God. This could be social media, your phone, laziness, going out, etc.
1: Add in one additional spiritual practice into your life. This could be a Rosary, Chaplet of Divine Mercy, or reading the Bible.
1: Find that one sin that you continue to struggle with and work on casting that sin out of your life for good. Receiving the graces and help that come from God from a good confession will help you a great deal. Learn from your sin, dust yourself off, and focus above all else on the way that Jesus has set before you.
Lent comes from an Old English word that roughly translates into “spring.” Let us enter into the desert with Jesus this Lent, so that we may undergo new life, a new “springtime” in our own hearts, ready to receive the light and the glory of the joy of the Resurrection.