Joseph S. O’Leary: Happy Lenten Thoughts

Many people think of Lent as a season of paralysing depression. But it should rather be welcomed it as a time of renewal, in which Grace flows more freely. Brooding with remorse or even repentance on the past, or with anxiety on the future, makes Lent miserable. Let’s live it instead as daily renewal in the present.

The world at large gives ample occasions for depression, as horrible massacres drag on in Ukraine and Gaza, Sudan and the Congo, and as fascistic mindsets grow in power while democracy dwindles. Are there Lenten exercises that can be pitted against these enveloping ills?

Paul in Romans 12 sounds rather like the Sermon on the Mount. When he says ‘Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse. Rejoice with those who rejoice; mourn with those who mourn’ (Rom 12:14-15) he is urging practices comparable to the four ‘brahma-abodes’ in Buddhism: loving-kindness (mettā); compassion (karuṇā); sympathetic joy (muditā); and equanimity (upekkhā). Energy put forth in enacting these  wholesome states, which have been called ‘the four faces of love,’ can only make the world a better place. Anchored in them, we no longer become trapped in mean calculation, cold indifference, indignant expostulation, resentment, self-pity, or fretfulness. They heal the distorted perspectives caused by egocentrism, establish warm relationships, and dissolve conflict. They are implied in the precept ‘love your enemies’ (Mt 5:43; Lk 6:27, 35). Practicing that positive, revolutionary ethos makes Lent a force for a better future rather than a sinkhole of morose brooding.

Recalling Pope Francis’s advice to put a day aside entirely for God, we might claim our freedom as Christians by simply giving ourselves the time to rediscover Scripture, finding new meanings in familiar verses — for ‘The sacred Scriptures grow with the one who reads them’ (Pope Gregory I). Encouraged and empowered by Scripture, we listen also to Christian voices that have brought joy and peace to the world over the centuries: St Bernard of Clairvaux, St Teresa of Ávila, St Francis de Sales, or St Thérèse de Lisieux. Powerhouses of renewal in their time, they may speak to our time as well.

Bearing in mind Vatican II’s imperative to practice interreligious dialogue, renewed by Pope Francis’s prophetic words in Singapore, Christians need not limit their piety to the language and images of their own tradition. They may pick up as well the spiritual classics of other religions, treasuring any capacity they discover to enter into their spirit and digest their message. A solid friendship grows between people of different cultures and religions when they meet at the most intimate level, in their life of prayer. Many sacred texts are read in ceremonial contexts. In respecting spiritual books as holy objects, not tossing around the Bible casually, and perhaps using incense or candles to enhance the use of texts or images for meditation, one learns an attitude of ceremonial veneration, which is aligned with the four brahma-abodes. The deep respect for other religious cultures learnt from this makes the Christian community a beacon of understanding and dialogue.

Joseph S. O’Leary