Opinion
It’s Easter… but how was your Lenten season?
Today is Easter. Today marks the beginning of the Easter Season—another season in the Holy Mother Church’s Liturgical Year. This season is also known as the Paschal Time or Eastertide.
It recalls the physical resurrection of Our Lord Jesus Christ from the grave. It is the basis of Christian belief, the reason for Christian faith, hope, and courage. Hence, St. Paul said, “And if Christ has not been raised, then our proclamation has been in vain and your faith has been in vain” (1 Corinthians 15:14). Since Christ rose from the dead, Christians see it as meaningful to live a holy life. Through the celebration of Easter, the faithful are reminded of the glorious life that awaits every good person. By so doing, one is encouraged to live up to expectation.
The Easter time is an “Alleluia Time.” We are now the redeemed people, and Alleluia is our song—but the question is, how was your Lenten season?
How was your Lenten season?
Easter time is the harvest time of the things sown during the Lenten season. In this part of the world, we are very familiar with farm work. It is good to make a juxtaposition between sowing in agricultural work and sowing during the Lenten season.
Let us recall what it means to embark on farm work. To think and hope for a grandiose harvest, many things are involved. In the first place, we must remember that a good input makes for a bountiful and plenteous output. Harvest is not spoken of in the air. There must be a sower, seeds to be sown, and good ground for the seeds. We can speak of a plentiful harvest when the sower is hardworking, has good seeds, and above all, good soil. If these prerequisites are met, then the sower can think and expect a good harvest. Of course, we know that “A person will reap exactly what he sows” (Galatians 6:7).
In this reflection, I would like us to reevaluate what our Lenten season was like. How was that beautiful period of graces? How did we walk/work? How did we sow in the Lenten season so as to have a harvest during Easter? Oftentimes people sow without any harvest—what can cause such? Could it be due to poor seed ground, poor seeds, or an inexperienced sower?
The time of Lenten observance begins with Ash Wednesday. On that day, we receive ashes on our foreheads to remind us of what we are. Every Friday of Lent is a day of fasting and abstinence. What are we to fast and abstain from? Scarcely does the average Nigerian feed three times a day. Does it sound health-wise and ethical to tell them to fast? If I may ask, what does fasting consist of? Only food and drink? Certainly not.
Three friends on a journey on Ash Wednesday were wearied as they traveled. Behold, they saw a monastery and stepped in to ask for some water. Their request was granted, but above all, they were served meals. One of them, a Catholic, told the Abbot porter, “I am a Catholic, and my two friends—one is of traditional religion and the other a Muslim.” The Abbot served them sumptuous food. The Catholic, seeing this, was expecting something more, but he was served some slices of bread and water. He was not happy because of that morsel of bread, but the Abbot told him, “Today is Ash Wednesday, and this is what we are partaking.”
You can see the Catholic man paid a price for his faith, though unwillingly. How do we see and welcome the Ash Wednesdays and Good Fridays of our life? Do we welcome them with joy or reluctantly like the Catholic in the little story above? The Good Fridays and Ash Wednesdays of our life should be for us a time of stock-taking, a time of checks and balances, a time to think before we leap.
In the world today, we have so many churches and preachers. Constantly, they say it is not the wish of God that we should suffer—that our God is the God of the rich, not the poor. Poverty, for them, is also a curse. In fact, it takes time to know which God/Lord/Jesus is being talked about. Is it Jesus the Christ, whom Isaiah presents as “a man of sorrow, familiar with suffering” (Isaiah 53:3)? The Christ who is born in a manger? The Christ who was ambulant—“The Son of Man has no place to lay down his head” (Matthew 8:20)? The Christ who called us to deny ourselves, take up our crosses daily, and follow Him (Matthew 16:24)?
We ought to constantly try not to let any of the Ash Wednesdays and Good Fridays of our lives be a wasteful effort. As much as we can, we should strive to make them hallowed and sanctified, bearing in mind that, “By giving yourself to God, you not only receive Himself in exchange, but eternal life as well” (St. Francis de Sales).
To know who can be a true sower, one must have good soil and seeds. The seeds are already there. It is left for us to know and decide which ones to choose so as to have a good harvest. The issue lies more with the sower, who later becomes the reaper—the harvester per se—of what is sown. To know who can be a good sower is simple. We can ask with the psalmist, “Who can climb the mountain of the Lord?” (Psalm 15:1). Then he gave us some answers, which can be the modus operandi of the sower.
The sowers are you and me, and the ground for sowing is the mountain. The man on the mountain is the seed ground. If He is the seed ground, then we must develop true and proper strategies to reach this ground where we are to sow the seeds. There is no other strategy save those the man on the Cross has left for us. Should we think of reaching Him, there hanging on the Cross on the high mountain? We should tread the path which He had trodden. And upon reaching Him, He shall welcome us; He shall give us respite. For that mountain is the mountain of joy and serenity. It pains to reach, but when reached, sorrows are forgotten. “On this mountain the Lord of hosts will prepare a feast for all people” (cf. Isaiah 25:6). “Whoever trusts in me will inherit the land and possess my holy mountain” (Isaiah 57:13).
We should not hope to reach the man on the mountain with hands folded and legs crossed. We have to make daily efforts and great sacrifices to reach there. Our effort, no matter how little, is needed. “For the God who created us without us cannot save us without us,” says St. Augustine. We have to be up and doing to reach this mountain and savor its riches, because the graces and blessings of God are given only to those who work hard. “Divine blessings are not granted to those who sleep, but those who keep watch” (St. Ambrose), and I will add, “He who sleeps over the line he is using to fish catches no fish.”
We should not be deluded by the ongoing consolation theologies of the day—that we are sinners, and God knows we are human, etc. These are useless and objectionable talks that many use to fool themselves. God cannot be fooled. Yes, He is merciful, but He is also just. In His mercy, there is justice. We have to try to reach the ultimate end—the Divine Union with the holy ones. If our heroes past were able to do it, why can’t we? Striving for perfection will cost us something—our time, and even our life. Make a start today and waste no time, for time waits for no one, and delay may be dangerous.
Always remember to give a helping hand to the weak ones trying to climb the mountain. Those who are weak should hasten to follow. Daily examination of conscience will help us know where we are. If we find that we are not coping, let us not fail to seek help from those we believe are more spiritually mature. Never belong to the group of the PHDs (pull him down)—those who sit and plot evil and cajole others instead of trying to emulate their good habits. Always keep your conscience in good shape, for the glory of a good man is the testimony of a good conscience. Never let your daily Judas’ and Peter’s actions overcome you—rather, try to overcome them. Become the new Peter: “Lord, to whom shall we go?” “Depart from me, for I am a sinful man.”
The seeds are there. How do we sow? That is to be answered individually. Remember, the price of Easter is the Cross (Lent). Bear in mind that the true child of Easter is the servant of the Cross. The harvest of Easter is sown in Lent. Forget not that the Lord shows no favoritism (cf. Acts 10:34–35). The road that leads to life is thorny and narrow, but the one that leads to perdition is broader and smoother. Therefore, we must “make hay while the sun shines” and avoid being deluded. As the eggs of today are laid for tomorrow to hatch, so the input and what is sown in Lent becomes the harvest of Easter.
Fr Iwuji is of the Society of Divine Vocations
He can be reached at iwujiudo@gmail.com | 08156198851