Lent: Week One

The stark reality of Lent can be overlooked without some marking of the time.  This week’s gospel depicts Jesus in the desert for forty days.  How would our life be different if we were in the desert for forty days?  For Jesus, the difference between the days in the desert and his regular life are obvious.  How can we, in walking with Jesus through Lent, mark Lent as different?  

This year my family celebrated Mardi Gras.  We wore brightly-colored plastic hats and masks, ate pizza and drank fruit punch.  We wore sparkling beads and ate candy.  My daughter color-coded her costume, and made sure her little brother looked handsome as well.

At the end of the evening, we ceremoniously placed our hats, beads, masks, and left-over candy in a brown paper bag marked “Open on Easter.”  I was amazed by their reverence for our ritual.  I realized in our ritual, we were being church.  Our party on Fat Tuesday set up Lent for us in a way I haven’t felt before.  Easter always brings its joy, but all the more if we are waiting in anticipation to live life to the fullest.

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