Lent is a time for all Catholics to prepare for the Easter 'Alleluia'

Friday, Feb. 13, 2015

SALT LAKE CITY —Ash Wednesday begins the 40 days of Lent. Although Ash Wednesday is not a holy day of obligation, many Catholics attend Mass on this day to have their foreheads marked with the ashes as a reminder that their earthly life will pass away; the ashes are made from the palms from the previous year’s Palm Sunday, which are burned for this purpose. 

Lent is a time for Catholics to prepare for Easter and the resurrection of Jesus Christ.

With Lent comes the tradition of sacrifice, almsgiving, prayer, fasting and penance, with the ultimate goal of coming closer to God. 

Catholics who are 14 years and older are to abstain from all meat on Ash Wednesday, all Fridays of Lent and Good Friday, unless they are solemnities, by giving up meat. Many parish communities gather on Fridays for simple soup suppers or fish frys, and to pray the Stations of the Cross, which commemorate the Passion of Christ. 

Lent originally began as a 40-day retreat for converts before they could receive the new life of baptism during the Easter Vigil. The number of days is significant; the gospels of Matthew, Mark and Luke all say that Jesus spent 40 days in the desert following his baptism to be tempted by the devil (Luke 4:1-2). 

The number 40 is also symbolic of the Israelites who were freed from Egyptian slavery only to wander in the desert for 40 years on their way to the Promised Land. 

“Lent is a time that recalls ancient Biblical roots,” said Susan Northway, director of the Diocese of Salt Lake City Office of Religious Education. “When the Hebrew people left Egypt and journeyed into the desert, they left behind everything familiar. During the desert sojourn, they learned to put all their trust in God. For candidates and catechumens, Lent speaks of this experience. When the Hebrew people emerged from the desert, they were ready to go forth into a new life. Our people in Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults will experience this cleansing and joy.”

Catechumens are those seeking baptism and confirmation in the Church. Candidates have not been confirmed, but they have been baptized either in the Catholic faith or another Christian faith whose baptism the Church recognizes.

On the first Sunday of Lent, as they near the end of their RCIA journey, the catechumens and candidates receive the Rite of Sending, in which the local community or parish approves of them and sends them forth to the diocesan celebration. 

On the second Sunday of Lent is the Rite of Election; a ceremony in which the catechumens publicly acknowledge their response to God’s call and become the elect, the final stage of their journey. They have inquired about the Church, become a part of the community and now are being called to carry on Christ’s mission. 

On the third, fourth and fifth Sundays of Lent, the elect and the candidates prepare for the Rites of Scrutiny, which complete the conversion of the elect and deepen their resolve to hold fast to Christ and to carry out their decision to love God above all. 

The Scrutinies are a way for the elect and candidates to “see where they might improve or need to change to turn closer to God,” said Paulette Hill, a former RICA director, adding that the readings during these Masses are of the woman at the well, the man born blind and the raising of Lazarus – Gospel stories with particular meaning for those entering the Church.

For example, the woman at the well was an outsider, and sins are not passed down from parents to child as might be implied by the reading of the man born blind, Hill said. 

Also, “the raising of Lazarus was the last straw [for the Jewish leaders]; they couldn’t take any more of Jesus’ miracles, and they condemn him to death, which leads to the Passion of Christ,” she said.

Traditionally, the elect are baptized at the Easter Vigil. During that Mass, both the elect and the candidates receive their First Communion and Sacrament of Confirmation as well.

At all Easter Masses, the baptized renew their baptismal commitment.