Devotion for today: The Springtime of Lent

 

An explanation of the springtime season paralleling the Lenten season.

The Springtime of Lent: Action and New Life

  The liturgical season of Lent coincides with spring, calling to mind the new life and growth, the hope and change that should characterize this time of prayer, penance and conversion. This is the season of initiation into the grace-life of the Church. For 40 days, the Church invites us to start afresh.

…Just as Nature renews herself every spring, so during the Church’s spring we are encouraged to begin anew with the catechumens. We prepare for the renewal of our baptism, we suffer with Christ for our sins, we are buried with Him so that we may also arise with Him to a new life of grace and glory. (Therese Mueller, Our Children’s Year of Grace)

The word Lent is derived from an Anglo-Saxon word lengthen or lencten meaning "spring." We are "to spring" into action, to do the tasks of the season, to prepare for the new growth and graces that overflow from Easter. Spring is the most important season for a farmer, for it determines what crops he will plant. Once decided, he prepares the soil thoroughly and plants the seed carefully, hoping that the seed buried deep in the soil will produce an abundant crop.

On Palm Sunday, the very threshold of his death and Resurrection, Our Lord assured his followers that “unless the grain of wheat falls to the earth and dies, it remains just a grain of wheat. But if it dies, it produces much fruit. The man who loves his life loses it, while the man who hates his life in this world preserves it to life eternal. If anyone would serve me, let him follow me; where I am, there will my servant be.” (Jn 12: 24-26) Let us renew our Baptism during this Lenten spring, joyfully dying to self in order to become that fruitful grain of wheat.

Activity Source: Original Text (JGM & MG) by Jennifer Gregory Miller and Margaret Gregoryhttp://www.catholicculture.org/culture/liturgicalyear/activities/view.cfm?id=1012Copyright © 2012 Trinity Communications. All rights reserved.

My thoughts: It is clear from the words of Christ contained in the above passage that we must die to ourselves before we can live God's will in our lives. This is hard to do. Lent, a new springtime in our lives, allows us to "practice" ways to die to self. Bishop Loverde of the Arlington Diocese calls it a kind of "training camp." Let us take what we have practiced this Lent and continue to use it throughout our lives, becoming willing servants of Christ.