Lent as Celebration of Life

The season of Lent is indeed a call to celebrate life in its fullness! The word "celebration" is usually associated with a joyful occasion for special festivities to mark some happy event such as celebration of one's birth day, celebration of one's first communion, celebration of marriage, celebration of priesthood, celebration of a feast (cultural, national, religious etc)... But the word "celebration" is rarely used in connection with Lent. In our liturgical terminology, however, we have a clue to the real meaning of "celebration". Don't we use the phrase "celebration of the Eucharist?" Celebrating the Eucharist really means celebrating the whole life of Christ: viz. the mysteries of incarnation, nativity, hidden life, public life, passion, death, resurrection, ascension of Jesus and Pentecost are remembered in the biblical sense of the people of Israel re-living the experience of Exodus... Celebrating the life of Christ is in a real sense celebrating our own life. The verse in the Eucharistic prayer after the words of consecration, "Do this in memory of me", is a lively and apt reminder of this great truth of our faith. Our life, with all its ups and downs, has already been drawn into the Life of Christ and offered to the Father in the Spirit. So we can courageously proclaim : "Christ has died, Christ is risen, Christ will come again." When we consider "Lent" as celebration of life it means all these and much else besides... And the genuine consolation that all of us long for comes from the depth of our hearts, washed clean by the God-given grace-gifts of faith, hope and love. The season of lent, therefore, beckons us to celebrate life in its fullness. A fullness that comes from the fullness of the mystery of Christ Himself. With Him we can look at life as a rainbow with millions of colours intermingling, interacting and harmonizing. Life is not monochromatic (not just one colour); but polychromatic (many coloured splendour of life)... Let us listen to the call of the Kingdom as Ignatius of Loyola puts it in his Spiritual Exercises: "Come with me, labour with me, follow me in pain and follow me in glory." (Sp.Ex. 95) ------------------------------------------- vmalpan@gmail.com