Lent is a period of prayer, fasting and charity

Ash Wednesday marks the beginning of the 40-day Lenten season, during which Christians seek a deeper union with the divine by doing good and avoiding evil.

It is a pivotal day in the calendar of the Catholic Church, whose members gather in churches and shrines to participate in a liturgy that invites them to believe in the gospel and urges them to mend their ways.

The Ash Wednesday liturgy is one of the most solemn, popular and poignant for all Catholics.

Attendance is often comparable to ordinary Sundays and major feast days, yet Ash Wednesday falls on a normal working day.

Even in countries where Christianity has declined, a considerable number of faithful still participate in this liturgy.

FASTING

Lent has precedents in the Old Testament and is firmly grounded on Jesus’s fasting for 40 days and nights. It is inspired by his teaching on helping the needy, and the call to prayer and fasting without making a show of it (Matt 6: 1-18).

The Code of Canon Law guides Catholics on how and when to fast profitably.

Canon 1251 says: “Abstinence from eating meat or another food according to the prescriptions of the Conference of Bishops is to be observed on Fridays throughout the year, unless they are solemnities; abstinence and fast are to be observed on Ash Wednesday and Good Friday."

In Kenya, the norm for Catholics is not to eat meat on the Fridays during Lent, as determined by the Conference of Bishops (See Canon 1253).

The practice of abstaining from certain pleasures is found in several religious traditions, including Hinduism, Islam and Judaism.

REFORM

African scholars Bolaji Idowu and John S. Mbiti have accounts of indigenous religious personages required to abstain from certain foods or acts, such as sexual intercourse, for a specified period before they perform key religious rites.

The Ash Wednesday liturgy is symbolic and replete with meaning. A symbol is a sign where an item or act stands in for, or represents, another.

The act of marking with ash, with roots in Hebrew practice, is an indicator that the individual has made the fundamental option of seeking greater union with God and will avoid corruption.

Ashes, being the remnant of radical transformation, become a symbol of a new quest for purification and fulfilment.

The church is always aware of the need for its members to make a journey of positive change. Every celebration of the Eucharist for Catholics begins with an invitation to renounce sin: “I confess to the Almighty God …” (the Confiteor).

BEHAVIOUR

Lent is a season of intensified and sustained search for God’s goodness and renunciation of evil. But sin by an individual often hurts, not just that person, but others as well.

So, a fruitful Lent benefits the individual and the community. Some cultures have a curious take on Lent.

They have an interesting argument: “Since we’ll be fasting for 40 days, let’s prepare for Lent by eating, drinking and having a good time.”

And, voila, they have Mardi Gras, literally Fat Tuesday, on the eve of Ash Wednesday, famous for its huge, nightlong carnivals with revelry and provocative dancing.

The story is told of a man who was accosted by brigands as he took an evening walk on Ash Wednesday.

To defuse the situation, he offered the lead robber a cigarette, saying: “Let’s talk.” The brigand shot back: “No way. Away with your cigarettes. It’s money I want. I don’t smoke during Lent!”

NEEDY

Lent is a season during which the faithful deny themselves some material goods or pleasures in order to experience spiritual or holistic growth.

There is a need for an honest correlation between the material things sacrificed and the spiritual good sought.

Dioceses in Kenya are now launching Lenten Campaigns whose objective is to support those in need using the proceeds saved through fasting. This is an opportune time to ask oneself: “What am I giving up? Why?”

Fr Lawrence Njoroge is a professor of development studies and ethics and Catholic chaplain at JKUAT. [email protected] c.ke