Lent

Many Christians the world over are making preparations for the Lenten season. Essentially, Lent is observed as a time of fasting in preparation for Easter Sunday. The 40 days before Easter is said to correspond to the temptation of Jesus in the wilderness where, according to the Gospel accounts, He fasted for 40 days. Some Christians fast on Ash Wednesday and on every Friday of the season. Many define fasting as forgoing meat on those days.

One wonders if this practice is at all relevant in secularized 21^st century America. It appears as if the idea of “fasting” has become trivialized in our culture. According to Christianity Today, the top five items that people listed in 2015 to give up for Lent were: school, chocolate, Twitter, alcohol, and social networking.

On a more serious note, Pope Francis remarked, in the online edition of Time Magazine, that “fasting must never become superficial.” Francis frequently quotes John Chrysostom who said, “No act of virtue can be great if it is not followed by advantage for others. So, no matter how much time you spend fasting, no matter how much you sleep on a hard floor and eat ashes and sigh continually, if you do no good to others, you do nothing great.” The point of this article is expressed in the next sentence; “so, if we’re going to fast from anything this Lent, Francis suggests that even more than candy or alcohol, we fast from indifference toward others.”

Thus the motivation behind this post: it is surprising to learn of the things from which people will vow to abstain, almost as a joke, but neglect paying attention to the things that matter. This is reminiscent of the word of Jesus to the Pharisees; “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you tithe mint and dill and cumin, and have neglected the weightier matters of the law: justice and mercy and faithfulness. These you ought to have done without neglecting the others (Matthew 23:23).

Here’s the reality: while some are voluntarily abstaining from chocolate, Twitter, Facebook, donuts, or what have you, others are going without adequate food, appropriate clothing, or habitable shelter. This is not voluntary. This is called homelessness. Instead of making a game out of a serious season, why not vow to make a difference in someone’s life. Contact the Rescue Mission and we can show you how.