By Fr. Glenn Jones
“Is it Lent again already?!”
That line from the old priest in the movie “Ladyhawk” comes to mind about this time annually … especially as time becomes ever more fleeting with each passing year.
Ushering in Lent this week, of course, is Ash Wednesday—initiating a time in which we recall that, bodily, we are but dust and ashes … and we Christians avert our eyes quite so much from this world and re-orient mind’s eye and heart’s yearning toward the next—eternal life with God … Heaven’s gates being thrown open, as it were, by the sacrifice of Christ and His subsequent resurrection which we will recall and celebrate on Easter Sunday.
The imagery/metaphor of “blowing open” those Heavenly gates is alluded to in the psalms: “Lift up your heads, O gates! and be lifted up, O ancient doors! that the King of glory may come in. Who is this King of glory? The LORD of hosts, he is the King of glory!” (Psalm 24:9-10) In our Lenten reflections, we renew our hope and ardor to be one of the king’s entourage, awaiting His arrival with oil of faith to light our lamps (Matthew 25:1-13).
Ah, but the arrival of the king demands preparation—the sweeping out of the detritus of the soul which can accumulate over time through inattention. Christians renew dedication to such preparation during the Lenten season—a preparation ever ongoing and necessary … ideally each day and each year in a never-ending quest toward greater righteousness and holiness/”wholiness”. Toward a greater goodness. Toward progress in reflection of our archetype, Jesus the Christ—the way, the truth and the life.
Our society—inundated with self-help literature, self-reflection articles, etc.—encourages self-improvement. The greatest and truest self-improvement, however, is embodied in those two great and yet simple concepts/commandments: “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, mind, soul and strength, and your neighbor as yourself.” As Jesus reminds us, these encapsulate the whole of the Law and the prophets … the teaching of Jesus Himself.
Ash Wednesday ashes applied to the foreheads of believers are of little import in themselves, really—simple reminders of our mortality and the inevitability of death, each day bring it just a little bit closer. Such focus may seem macabre on its face, but like all of Christian symbols it points to a future and greater reality. Thus Ash Wednesday is meant to shake us out of complacency, for we, like the apostles, worry so much about “who is the greatest” in this world, even though, in the end, fame and status and wealth are nothing if not used for good.
To be frank, for most of us, a week after we’re dead very few will think of us very much ever again—becoming just a photo in a drawer … a story at family gatherings. And, even if they do remember … even if we are feted in song and poetry like great heroes of old … what of it? They can erect statues of gold of us on every street corner and every mountaintop, but all that truly matters is whether—and how much—you have loved God and goodness, and loved neighbor.
Shakespeare’s Hamlet muses: “…we fat ourselves for maggots. Your fat king and your lean beggar is but variable service—two dishes, but to one table… A man may fish with the worm that hath eat of a king, and eat of the fish that hath fed of that worm.” (Hamlet, Act 4, Scene 3) … the reality of our earthly end. We conveniently forget such, but one day that reality hits us in the face. We priests and ministers witness it very often … deathbed sorrow over one’s life. What is regretted—and feared—is not having worshipped God more ardently … not having loved family, friends, neighbors more completely.
Recalling these things, in the time of Lent we retreat a bit from ephemeral worldly considerations. Rather we consider: what can I do to improve? In what way can I mirror the love of God more fully? How can I succor those in need?
And so, in this time of self-examination and renewal—for Christians, yes, but we certainly welcome non-Christians to join us in productive introspection—let us retreat a bit from the world … retreat into the innermost self … “rising above”, so to speak, and reviewing our lives and actions objectively with the mind and standard of God. “Love thy neighbor” breaks all cultural and national boundaries, and is, indeed, the highest of all earthly ideals … encompassing all earthly ideals. After all, its opposite is NOT to love thy neighbor … and we’ve had quite enough of that in the world already, thank you.
So, as Jesus exhorts us, “Come away by yourselves to a lonely place, and rest a while.” (Mark 6:31) … away from the hubbub of the world which distracts ceaselessly. Such distractions are but smoke in the wind in any event. Just take a quick walk through the cemetery sometime: what we are now, they once were; what they are now, we will soon be. “Therefore lift your drooping hands and strengthen your weak knees, and make straight paths for your feet…Strive for peace with all men, and for the holiness without which no one will see the Lord.” (Hebrews 12:12-14) And have the most blessed and fruitful Lent ever.
Rev. Glenn Jones is the Vicar General of the Archdiocese of Santa Fe and former pastor of Immaculate Heart of Mary Catholic Church in Los Alamos.