College Chaplain

Let’s Journey Together

As lent approaches, many will wonder what they are to give up and what exercise of faith they will take to fulfil the Lenten obligations. All that is okay, but more importantly, the Christ through the church calls us to journey together as one family of faith, the family of God's Children in the sincere cleansing and purification of our hearts. It is not just an obligation fulfilling season; instead, it is a season of rediscovering who we are in the presence of God. So, let's Journey together!

Lent is a particular season, which begins with Ash Wednesday (this year is on the 2nd of March) and lasts for 40 days, excluding Sundays. The word "Lent" comes from an old English word that means "springtime”, so it reminds us of spring cleaning and the new life in nature during spring. This season of Lent is a time of special grace for us in which we want to do some spring cleaning in our lives and enjoy new life in Christ as a result. 

Acknowledging that we are all sinners, we earnestly desire to clean up our lives during Lent. We want to leave sin behind and grow closer to the Lord, who is the author of our lives. We want to change our hearts this Lent. 

According to Pope Francis: “Lent is a new beginning, a path leading to the certain goal of Easter, Christ’s victory over death. The Lenten season urgently calls us to conversion. We Christians are asked to return to God “with all their hearts” (Joel 2:12), to refuse to settle for mediocrity and to grow in friendship with the Lord. Jesus is the faithful friend and brother who never abandons us. Even when we sin, He patiently awaits our return; by that patient expectation, He shows us His readiness to forgive.”

The period of 40 days of lent is incredibly significant as it reflects the 40 days of Moses on Mount Sinai (Exodus 24:18); Elijah’s 40 days on Mount Horeb (1 Kings 19:8); 40 days of Flood in the days of Noah (Genesis 7:4); 40 years of Israel’s journey to the Promised Land; 40 days ultimatum for repentance given to the people of Nineveh by Jonah (Jonah 3:4).

In the first reading of the Ash Wednesday, which ushers us into the period of lent, the prophet Joel called his people to repentance with a loud voice saying: Even now, says the LORD, return to me with your whole heart, with fasting, and weeping, and mourning; Rend your hearts, not your garments, and return to the LORD, your God. For gracious and merciful is he, slow to anger, rich in kindness, and relenting in punishment (Joel 2:13). Further, Psalm 51, a profound prayer for repentance and purification, earnestly asks God to wash away our guilt and cleanse us from our sins.

So, the church calls us to a spiritual exercise of faith, including Prayers, Fasting, and Almsgiving. Just as in our modern society today, we embark on all kinds of physical exercises to strengthen the muscles, to enhance our physical wellbeing, to maintain physical and mental fitness – to keep a healthy mind in a healthy body (mens sana in corporis sano), so also, the church is inviting us to these spiritual exercises in prayer, fasting and almsgiving.

Let’s journey together than through these forty days of lent to a glorious resurrection in Easter with our hearts and mind focused on Christ who wins for us and in us, the price of eternal salvation. May we experience Christ's love and redeeming power within us and all around us.