If we look at the rhythms of nature, we see seasons of dying and coming to life, of growth and resting. In days long gone, when our ancestors were closer to nature, they changed their daily routine with the seasons. The short days and long nights of winter meant less work and more sleep; the days of summer meant longer hours of work and shorter hours of sleep. Our bodies need lows and highs in order to remain healthy. Even the week provides a time for work and a time for rest and recreation. Our bodies and energies cannot function at full speed all the time. Times of high energy must be followed by times of conservation and restoration in order to face another period or spurt of energy and to remain healthy. We all look forward to vacations when we can regenerate, change our routine, get away from the ordinary work of life and play.

If we are sensitive to the rhythms of nature and our body, then perhaps we can appreciate and understand the rhythms of the liturgical year with their times of intense celebration and their return to ordinary existence. This is especially true of the Lenten-Easter cycle. Very often Lent becomes the time of intense activity in the parish and in our lives and Easter becomes the time the recuperation. In reality it should be the other way around. Lent is the time of reflection, preparation, rest before the spurt of growth, and celebration and exultation.

Perhaps this can give new meaning to the fasting, prayer and almsgiving of Lent. While there is no doubt that these three words are used a lot during Lent, do we really embrace them and know what they mean? We give up things for Lent, but is it really fasting? What does fasting really mean? In many Old World countries fasting involved giving up dairy products. The abstinence from meat was part of this, but it rarely concerned the poor for their diets seldom could afford the luxury of meat--poultry or beef. The abstinence from meat was more a practice of the rich. For the average person in a farming community the giving up of dairy products was the normal routine of Lent. Thus on the Tuesday before Ash Wednesday the house was cleansed of all dairy products. This led to the custom of Shrove or Pancake Tuesday and to the custom of joyfully decorating, hunting and eating eggs on Easter Sunday. Why did people give up dairy products? Most likely because Lent was spring time in Europe and Asia, the time leading up to regeneration. The eggs were not eaten so that new chicks could be born; milk (and, therefore, cheese) was not available because it was needed for the calves and kid-goats; animals could not be slaughtered for meat because they were needed to feed and care for their young. In other words all creation was being renewed or storing up energy and supplies for regeneration.

Lent is the time for our regeneration and renewal to celebrate the 50 days of Easter. We fast so that we can celebrate. We refrain from some activities in order to take them up with renewed vigour. In other words we do not fast in order to punish ourselves; we do not fast because we are bad. We fast in order to bring forth new life. We sacrifice in order that others may have life. While we are invited to be renewed and to give up sin, we should not confuse giving up sin with giving up meat or candy or deserts or anything else. So Lent is a time to relax a little. To give up some of our busyness and hurriedness in order to slow down and be more objective about life. It is the time to go on a diet so we can celebrate later. It is the time to think and reflect and pray about God’s goodness. It is the time to let life well up inside so that it can burst forth and abound with renewed energy later.

Lent is not just about ourselves. We begin with self, but we do not end there. Lent is the time for us to give up things so that we can share life with God and others. The purpose of our slimming down, fasting, praying, giving money to the poor and abstaining is to grow in our appreciation for all God gives us and to share these gifts with others. What we do not expend on ourselves, we spend on others. In other words, prayer (our time), fasting (our energy) and almsgiving (our resources) have a goal, they are not practised for their own sake. They are a way of expressing our love and appreciation to God and sharing with others.

Thus Lent has two important goals: to renew what we already have and to bring about new birth. The renewal through prayer, fasting and almsgiving are the themes of the weekdays of Lent. The new birth through baptism is the focus of the Sundays of Lent and their readings. The new birth calls us to support those preparing for baptism, confirmation and eucharist. The prayer, fasting and almsgiving calls us to appreciate the wealth we have, both physical and spiritual, and to share it with others. Because busy people tend to forget what is important at home, our relationships with family and God, Lent invites us to slow down and regain our perspective of what is truly important. If we were told that we would die in a month, what activity would we give up and what would suddenly become important to us. This is what Lent asks us to do. With Christ we have died, now what is truly life-giving for us? What is the resurrection in our lives?

Sin does not always mean that we are bad people, or that we do terrible things. Sin means missing the mark or importance of something. The sin of our day may be that our priorities are not in right order. The things that should be important to us and our families are not: the details have become more important than the purpose of life. Lent invites us to reassess our priorities and discover the joy of life that surrounds us.