The Sweet Taste of Spring

Details: 25 February 2011

Even though the spring season does not officially begin for several more weeks, we have been given a taste of its sweetness with numerous warm weather days in recent weeks, making us long for the day when not only the snow piles have completely disappeared, but the threat of new ones being formed also has passed.

The Church season that corresponds with springtime is Lent. In fact, this special season derives its very name from the Anglo-Saxon word lencten, meaning spring. One of the characteristics of spring is the extreme nature of its weather patterns. The atmosphere gets churned up as warm air from the south pushes upon the cold fronts of the north, sometimes creating big temperature swings, as well as tumultuous storms with floods and tornados.

The Lenten season is meant to be disruptive to our spiritual routine, much as the spring season stirs up weather patterns. Too often we Christians (me included) fall into our usual commitments for Lent that may involve giving up a couple of things at table and adding a couple of things to our spiritual diet. The Church recommends these very things, so there certainly is no reason to change course entirely. However, our failure to challenge ourselves in spiritual things typically is simply the result of failing to make the effort to examine ourselves thoroughly before Lent arrive. In other words, we can easily settle for our ‘default’ Lenten routine if we have not taken the time to reflect seriously on what changes the Lord (and we) would really like to see.

As a result of our busy lifestyles, many of us are guilty of allowing spring to take us by storm without our ever stopping proverbially ‘to smell the roses.’ We take the beautiful changes in nature for granted simply because of the many worldly distractions we allow to rule our lives. For example, most people easily can identify the term "March Madness" with the proliferation of NBA basketball games on television. Many rejoice when the championship game finally arrives simply because they are wanting to engage in a some conversations that don’t include basketball.

While certain cultural obsessions are foisted upon us with little chance that we can avoid contact with them, Lent provides each Christian with the opportunity to stir things up by our own choice and in our own way in order to change ourselves and society for the better. For this to happen, however, we must give some forethought to what specific changes in my life are needed and what resources the Church provides to help me to effect such changes. The Catholic Church offers so many helpful ways for us to grow spiritually that we only have ourselves to blame if Lent is not fruitful for us.

Lent begins on Ash Wednesday, March 9. Plan now to make this Lent the best 40-day journey of your life. Keep Jesus in the Eucharist at the center of your Lenten routine, and make God’s Holy Word part of your master plan as well. Include some serious prayer and sacrifice and you will have a recipe that is sure to be a winner. Now, enjoy the sweet taste of spring, and prepare to relish the great spiritual fruits of Lent!