I’m happy that Lent is over this year, and not simply because Easter is approaching and Cadbury dark chocolate eggs are involved.
Lent was not easy. Of course, some of it had nothing to do with Lent specifically. The news has been awful all around, which is, I think, a reminder of the necessity for conserving. The world needs a rescuer; it is shattered, bruised, and harsh. I require a rescuer.
Maybe this didn’t apply to you, but I found that I had a really hard time maintaining my Lenten resolves, which made my Lent particularly challenging. By the way, none of them were really difficult. However, each of them required a certain level of diligence in the offering, and this year, diligence was difficult.
I won’t get into all the gory specifics, but suffice it to say that when I was about to exclaim, “Son of a,” I realized that I had vowed to abstain from using that phrase during Lent.
St. John Chrysostom has one of my favorite Easter thoughts. For good cause, the churches of both the East and the West hold him in high regard as a saint. However, his Christlike compassion for our helpless humanity is seen in this passage from his Easter sermon that declares the season to be joyful.
“Receive your reward first and last, and rejoice with the rich and the poor!” Celebrate the day, sober and sluggish!
It’s a fat calf, so feast on it royally. Make sure nobody goes without food. Indulge in the cup of faith, everyone. Savor everything that His kindness has to offer! Since the revealed global kingdom does not exist, let no one be grieved by his poverty. Forgiveness has risen from the dead, so don’t be sad that you have fallen often.
You who have observed the fast and you who have not are welcome to come celebrate in the spirit of “forgiveness rising from the grave.” Collectively: People like myself who struggled during Lent. We who clenched our teeth and complained quietly while sticking to our resolutions. Those of us who made sacrifices while grinning and with a devout soul.
We are all welcome to the feast, St. Chrysostom tells us—the pampered and the well-mannered, the wealthy and the destitute.
He refers to the famous story that vexations Americans so much in another section of the same homily. It’s the story of the vineyard workers (Mt 20:1–16) who arrive at various times during the day yet receive the same wage at the end of it. Our puritan cupcake is frosted by that, boy.
We all receive the same recompense at Easter, according to St. Chrysostom. In order to help us remember the Lord’s personal suffering and sacrifice on our behalf, lent is a wonderful discipline.
However, because that atonement was previously paid on our behalf, we may now rejoice in the fact that Jesus has actually risen from the dead during this joyous Halloween season.
allow’s not allow Easter be quickly forgotten, if I may offer this resolve for Easter. In the wilderness of Lent, we lived for forty days. Let us rejoice for 40 days, just as they did in the time of St. Chrysostom.
Give the Cadbury eggs a break! Grab some delicious dishes to celebrate! This, the biggest feast in the church calendar, is a true blessing; express thankfulness for that.
Additional Lents will occur. One Easter event is being held. There is a happy ending, let us remind this tortured old planet.
