Liturgy Lesson for Quinquagesima: Lent is Almost Here

March 6, 2011

This Sunday is Quinquagesima (50 days before Easter) and points us to our immediate spiritual task, beginning Ash Wednesday, the first day of Lent, a special period of six weeks preceding Holy Week marked by fasting, penitence, and prayer. “Lent” is an Old Saxon word, meaning spring, and corresponds roughly to the 40 days of fasting our Lord submitted to in the Wilderness. The first day, this coming Wednesday, is called Ash Wednesday, owing to the ancient custom of sprinkling ashes on the heads of penitents—a Biblical token of a personal choice to humble ourselves in sorrow for sin or to entreat God for His mercy. Wisely, the Church Fathers provided this season as a tool to drive a deeper personal seeking of God among the faithful and for them to enter into a Spirit-led examen to prepare their hearts for more complete and spiritually-edifying celebration of our Lord’s Resurrection. It is the original revival (meaning new life) of God’s Holy Church, as it is intended to infuse us with His new life by asking the Holy Spirit to help us clear out space for God to be Lord in our lives, through our discipline and devotion. May God speak to us in each of our lives as we seek His voice in the wilderness of Lent!