So, the football season has just ended, and sports fans turn their attention to basketball and the start of baseball spring training. Sports seasons, social psychologists point out, create a collective rhythm that includes social gatherings and local traditions, group identity and loyalty. And even when “your team” finishes the season badly, there’s always next year to give hope.
The season of Lent begins this week, but unfortunately, we often miss the communal purpose of Lent. It is right there in the Ash Wednesday scriptures. In our first Hebrew Scripture reading, the prophet Joel is urging an assembly to renew itself. In the Epistle, Paul tells the Corinthians (a group) that we are ambassadors for Christ as if God were appealing through us. And in our Gospel, Jesus tells us not to be pretend members, aka hypocrites, but authentic ones, whose good actions are not done to impress others but instead flow from a personal relationship with his Father. We receive Ashes together, in this special liturgy, to show that we are in this renewal together.
In our times, the sense of community has broken down. What prevails is individualism. It’s not a new “ism.” Pope Leo XIII (d 1903) was already sounding the alarm about the loss of meaning of the common good in favor of isolated personal freedom. Popes Benedict XVI, Francis, and now Pope Leo XIV continue criticizing individualism. Not surprisingly, individualism also affects spirituality. It leads us to emphasize my personal relationship with Jesus over relationships with the people in the pew with me. It leads us to discount the words of our bishops and popes. It leads many people who claim to be Catholics to seek intimacy with the Lord from sources disconnected from traditions and wisdom of the community of Catholics throughout the centuries.
Any organization is only as authentic and effective as its members. Consider this well-loved song that expresses the mission statement of our Catholic Church, why it exists, what it’s about. Longing for light, we wait in darkness. Longing for truth, we turn to you. Make us your own, your holy people, light for the world to see…Make us your living voice…Make us your bread…shared until all are fed…let us be servants to one another, making your kingdom come. (“Christ, Be Our Light” by Bernadette Farrell). Lent is the season each year when our Church asks us to renew our membership commitment to this mission. So, I make a suggestion to you for this Lent: Instead of giving up something, do actions to strengthen your faith in and commitment to the Catholic people of God! Here are six possibilities, one for each week of Lent. It would be great, if you try any of them, to do them with a partner!
First week of Lent: choose two saints who have been part of your faith journey, and five non-canonized folks, living or dead, who have inspired and sustained you. List them on a post-it and put it somewhere you will see it each day. Pray in thanksgiving for one of them each day. They are part of the communion of saints we remember at each Eucharistic liturgy.
Second week: Find out from your parish what its mission statement is. Compare it with the one in the song above. Should it not have one, write one for it. Local parishes are connected with dioceses and archdioceses which are part of regions of the U.S. Catholic Church, which is connected with our Pope. The Spirit flows from the bottom, the local parish with its members like you, to the top. Pray for your local parish this week.
Third week: During the third, fourth, and fifth week each Lent, people preparing to become Catholic are presented formally to the parish community during one of the weekend Masses. Ask your local parish for the first name of one of the catechumens to pray for this week. Consider writing a couple lines of support to him or her, care of the parish office. Perhaps sometime soon you may meet at Sunday Mass!
Fourth week: The season of Lent asks us all to look at lives to see where we could be better disciples of the Lord. And so, the Church suggests receiving the Sacrament of Reconciliation during Lent, even though that sacrament is only required in the case of mortal sin. If there is something major to talk about with the confessor, consider the example of the rich young man who approached Jesus (Matthew 19:16-30). He was already following the Judaic law to the max, so his question to Jesus was, “what more shall I do?” When you approach the priest, share your own answer! What keeps you from doing it? Ask for the grace to grow in that area.
Fifth week: Reconciliation is not an option for followers of Christ. So, we all know we need to find ways to restore relationships with people who have hurt or offended us. But we also lose our sense of loyalty to and respect for our Church when it hurts and offends us. So, we also need to forgive our Church. Forgiving never means excusing what is wrong or sinful in people or in our Church. It is about looking at both realistically, as imperfect and even sinful, but with the compassion and patience that Jesus had, and with the expectation that they should, would, and could “sin no more.” What do you need to forgive the Church for? Pray for the Church this week.
Sixth week: As we move through Holy Week, learn something connected with it. Our Catholic faith is strong and long on “faith seeking understanding.” And belief is only stronger when it has the support of knowing our history and tradition and teachings. Suggestions: Ask Magisterium AI simple questions like “What kind of bread did Jesus use at the last supper,” or harder ones like “On the cross, did Jesus know he would rise” or “What’s the history of the Easter Vigil?” Surf Crux in the News to check out the latest going on in our world Church and Pope during Holy Week. Or listen to relevant podcasts available on sites like America Media or Word on Fire.
My hope with these simple suggestions is that we can renew and strengthen our Catholic team love and loyalty and be energized for its mission by the way we live this Lent!
Sister Mary Garascia, PhD (Theology), is a member of the Sisters of the Precious Blood of Dayton, Ohio, where she now resides. Until recently she lived and ministered at The Holy Name of Jesus in Redlands. You can follow her weekly Sunday scripture blogs at PreciousBloodSistersDayton.org.