Excellent Explanation...

Many non-Catholics feel they understand what the Catholic Faith teaches but often their research is learned from an obscure view where many mis-conceptions and mis-understandings occur. Then they try to back up their findings with finding a quote or teaching from a particular time from the Catholic Church herself - but what they don't realize is much like the Bible you must take everything together as a whole. The Church has a huge history that has spanned over many centuries. So many of her teachings, traditions and encouraged disciplines can be "lost in translation" even among Catholics. Like the children's game of "Telephone" it's understandable that this happens. But as a Catholic Christian myself I've always been a huge promoter of Christian Unity and feel it's part of being a Christian to help clarify and unite. I was so happy to read an article today about the numbers of Catholic increasing worldwide to 1.6 billion, an increase shows understanding and unity, where a decrease would show misunderstanding and division. Not that all Christians HAVE to be Catholic, but I do believe that our Father wishes us all to be one. "I do not ask on behalf of these alone, but for those also who believe in Me through their word; that they may all be one; even as You, Father, are in Me and I in You, that they also may be in Us, so that the world may believe that You sent Me." John 17:20-21

With the liturgical Catholic Lent season here, I heard of many curious non-Catholics asking why we fast or don't eat red meat, or why we go to confession, etc. And I've also heard many confused non-Catholics shunning these encouraged disciplines saying that we endure suffering like fasting, go to confession for the forgiveness of sins, or do pleasing things for God as a way of meriting His mercy and justifying ourselves before Him - which is simply not the case. Although I welcome the curious ones, I definitely feel the need to correct the confused ones. So I thought inserts from this article did a great job of explaining what Lent is and why we partake in the disciplines encouraged by the Church...

Lent owes much of its spirit to the forty days Jesus spent in the desert preparing for his ministry. We say he was tempted there, but a more accurate translation may be "tested." The Jewish view of the desert was an abode of demons, especially that part of the desert where winds would howl around tall, rough stone. It must have been terrifying at night: dark, looming shapes, unearthly wailing of wind, and nothing else. In this place, Jesus was offered the opportunity to be the wrong kind of messiah. He rejected each possibility...When Jesus entered the desert, he left behind all the expectations of others, all the hopes, all the illusions. It was just Jesus and the Father, in the Holy Spirit. But in solitude, demons come. No role is more dangerous than the reformer. There were at least three wrong ways to be the Messiah, and Jesus rejected them all. The defeat of Satan during this testing hinted at the final defeat of evil through the Cross and Resurrection.

We are people of illusions. We think we understand God, we think we know ourselves and those around us. We plan our lives and are shocked when these plans fall through. We impose our wills on God or even say we know His plans. Jesus did not have such illusions, but we have illusions about Jesus. In the desert, Jesus had no illusions of his own to face and destroy: he was tested for our sake, so we would know who he was not. He did not come to bribe us with earthly bread, or astonish us with feats of invulnerability. He did not seek world domination or command an army. He simply did the will of the Father.

In Lent, we abstain from meat on Fridays, Ash Wednesday and Good Friday. Many people perform acts of penance or mortification, such as giving up sweets, TV and the like. What is the connection to the desert? The desert experience is about deprivation. Most of the world experiences it involuntarily. For many people, however, deprivation is a great evil, and to be avoided at all costs. In deprivation, we discover that we are not all-powerful. We are slaves to our bellies, to the opinions of others, to pleasure. We cannot bear pain, so we take a pill. We cannot bear growing old, so we dye our hair. Like Darth Vader in Star Wars, we replace our humanity with technology until there is little of our selves left. Doing without can strip away some of the illusions and give us a glimpse of truth. During Lent, we have the opportunity to hear voices that are usually lost in the din of pleasure and meaningless talk. We can enter into a private desert even in the midst of the world and face our own demons.

During Lent, we use abstinence from meat and acts of penance as metaphors. In a very small way, they model the rejection of illusions about what we need, who we are, and who God is. In this life, we try to make some progress in discarding our "disordered attachments." At death, we will no longer have a choice. We cannot enter Heaven burdened with a thousand foolish attachments. As our bodies lie rotting, there will be no more illusions about the worth of attractiveness. As others claim our possessions, they will finally have their proper value to us. When we stand in judgment before God, we will have no illusions about our sanctity or goodness. All will be laid bare, and there will be no more hypocrisy, lies, or illusions. It is far better to begin discarding our foolish attachments in this life, and Lent is a good time to begin this work. The best time to start, however, is always now. - WhiteStoneJournal.com