{"id":12957,"date":"2023-03-07T15:40:40","date_gmt":"2023-03-07T20:40:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/notstrictlyspiritual.com\/?p=12957"},"modified":"2023-03-07T15:42:39","modified_gmt":"2023-03-07T20:42:39","slug":"is-there-such-a-thing-as-a-happy-lent","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/notstrictlyspiritual.com\/life-lines\/is-there-such-a-thing-as-a-happy-lent\/","title":{"rendered":"Can you have a “happy” Lent?"},"content":{"rendered":"

As I was wrapping up a Lenten retreat recently, someone in attendance approached me afterward and asked if it\u2019s appropriate or even possible to wish someone \u201cHappy Lent!\u201d The funny thing is, I had said those exact words to Father Bob Longobucco as he walked into the church earlier that evening, even though it\u2019s not something I would usually say seriously to anyone. But if you know Father Bob, you know a little levity is always allowed amid the spiritual seriousness.<\/p>\n

But this person\u2019s question made me take a closer look at the topic, and I promised I would ponder it and maybe even write about it. So here we are. What I said off the top of my head that Wednesday evening was that I think we hear \u201chappy\u201d with our secularized ears and what we really mean is \u201cjoyful.\u201d But does \u201cHave a joyful Lent\u201d ring any truer in a season where sacrifice and the road to Calvary are in view?<\/p>\n

I would offer a resounding YES! And here\u2019s why. Look at some of the readings of this season so far. On Ash Wednesday, in the first reading from the Book of Joel, we were urged: \u201cReturn to me with your whole heart \u2026 return to the Lord, your God. For gracious and merciful is he, and slow to anger, rich in kindness, and relenting in punishment.\u201d What could be more joyful than a God like that? So often we focus on what is wrong with us and how unworthy we think we are, but God reminds us that we are beloved exactly as we are right now. And that should make us both happy and joyful, no matter what the season.<\/p>\n

Last week, one of the Gospel acclamations, quoted Psalm 51, saying: \u201cA clean heart create for me, O God; give me back the joy of your salvation.\u201d I used this exact line of Scripture as a breath prayer for my retreat group precisely because of the words \u201cthe joy of your salvation.\u201d I wanted to remind people that ours is a faith of joy, even on the road to Calvary, because we know what lies beyond it.<\/p>\n

Famed Trappist monk Thomas Merton, in his book \u201cSeasons of Celebration: Meditations on the Cycle of the Liturgical Feasts,\u201d wrote: \u201cEven the darkest moments of the liturgy are filled with joy, and Ash Wednesday, the beginning of the Lenten fast, is a day of happiness, a Christian feast. It cannot be otherwise, as it forms part of the great Easter cycle.\u201d<\/p>\n

He goes on to say, \u201cThere is joy in the salutary fasting and abstinence of the Christian who eats and drinks less in order that his mind may be more clear and receptive to receive the sacred nourishment of God\u2019s word, which the whole Church announces and meditates upon in each day\u2019s liturgy throughout Lent.\u201d<\/p>\n

Notice the word he uses there: joy. For many of us, the word \u201chappy\u201d is where we get hung up, because happy in our secular world\u2019s view is about those surface feelings we get when we go on vacation or get a promotion or eat a good meal. There is a big difference between happy and joyful, and we are called to be joyful in our faith, not just when things are going according to plan but even when they feel terribly off course, maybe especially in that case. No easy task, to be sure.<\/p>\n

Even if you\u2019re not comfortable wishing your neighbor at church a \u201chappy\u201d Lent, can you spend some time thinking about where the joy lives in this season?\u00a0 When we discover the joy bubbling up amid the sacrifices we\u2019re making, like a purple crocus pushing up from beneath the snow in our yard, we begin to realize that there is far more to this season than what we see on the surface.<\/p>\n

Happy, joyful, blessed Lent!<\/p>\n

Mary DeTurris Poust will be offering a Lenten retreat at St. Patrick\u2019s Church in Ravena on Saturday, March 11, at 10 a.m. and via Zoom on Wednesday, March 15, at 7 p.m. For more information, visit: https:\/\/notstrictlyspiritual.com\/events<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n

Photo by Mohamed Nohassi<\/a> on Unsplash<\/a> <\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

As I was wrapping up a Lenten retreat recently, someone in attendance approached me afterward and asked if it\u2019s appropriate or even possible to wish someone \u201cHappy Lent!\u201d The funny […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":12958,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[121],"tags":[534,285,40,101],"class_list":["post-12957","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-life-lines","tag-happiness","tag-joy","tag-lent","tag-life-lines"],"yoast_head":"\nCan you have a "happy" Lent? – NSS<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"We think of Lent as all sacrifice and suffering, but Scripture tells us otherwise. 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