A few days ago I posted about my belief that Lent is a positive thing, not something negative. To follow this up, I want to emphasize that Lent is not about bad news, but good news.
Some people may dread Lent, because of its emphasis on penance and sacrifice, but I think we must ask ourselves, “what is the purpose of our penance and sacrifice?” Transformation. Transformation of our entire being: body, soul, and spirit. However, Lent is not a “Christian self-help program,” a works-based program that will soon make it on Oprah. Through our observance of Lent, we become more like Christ, the same Christ who offers us his love and grace. The East uses the word theosis to describe the process, which St. Athanasius described as “becoming by grace what God is by nature.” Lent celebrates our redemption, our salvation, and our transformation. This is good news if I have ever heard it!
This post was inspired in part by a comment at my other blog, Life in Your Years, by Kristen at Food Renegade.
Absolutely. And, we should be using it as a season of charity by giving up some of our material goods to others and thereby sharing the love. Also, the penance and repentance that we do leads to happiness and forgiveness of sins and ultimately a closer walk with God. How could that not be positive?
[...] Bennett at Per Christum blog: Lent is about Good News. Here’s an excerpt. But it’s a short post and you should definitely read it all. Good [...]