You Crown the Year with Your Goodness
by Marc Eskander
Lent is upon us! A time for being alone, purifying ourselves, detaching from the world, burning away all that is unnecessary, and striving toward victory over death. For every time, you have fasted half-heartedly, this is not the year for it, and it has nothing to do with your own spiritual life. In fact, it has nothing to do with being a Christian. For this year, a molecular particle is upon us. Coronavirus has flipped the world as we know it, upside down.
For those that strive for asceticism, coronavirus has half the world locked in their own homes under quarantine. For those that wanted to eat out less often, coronavirus has made eating out next to impossible. For those that do not want to live so apathetically anymore, coronavirus provides the cure. We are constantly ensuring we remain safe, and not just for our own sakes, but for those we may harm.
Whether we like it or not, whether we are fasting or not, we are abstaining from things we love, and not by choice. Lent is the time of year that I should want to slow down, increase asceticism and prepare for the Passion of our Lord. Christ taught us how to detach from the world when He entered the Judean desert to fast and pray for 40 days and nights before His upcoming mission. Christ neither ate nor drank but fought for us, His children, in the wilderness. He starved the body so that He could feed the soul.
Every year, I promise myself that this Lent is going to be different. That I am going to benefit more this year. I’m going to repent of that sinful habit, repair that broken relationship, pray harder, eat less, read more – be more like Christ! Yet this year, I am forced to do all the things I have struggled to in the past. This is the year to capitalise on virtue and embrace the restrictions that befall me.
In years past, occasionally yes, I have tried and benefited from this period, other years it feels like all l did was change my diet, albeit I wasn’t even being that strict. Do I forget what the point of it all was? Fasting is a struggle – and I speak for myself first and foremost – so there needs to be a point. Christ taught us to fast so that we may, “walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfil the lusts of the flesh”(Galatians 5:16).
With the latest outbreak of coronavirus and the mass hysteria that surrounds it, I can’t help but look upon lent differently this year. I’m not suggesting that God sent coronavirus to teach us a lesson by any means, but I can’t help but reflect upon the timing. One verse in particular has me thinking…
“Blessed is the man who endures temptation; for when he has been approved, he will receive the crown of life which the Lord has promised to those who love Him.” – James 1:12
The link I see so clearly between Lent and coronavirus lies in this verse. While Lent is a time of fasting, prayer, and slowing down, these are the means not the goal.
It is the Resurrection…victory over death and sin; an everlasting Crown. The aim of Lent is repentance. It is victory. Not regret, guilt, shame, self-control, or a mere change of diet. But repentance. Metanoia. A change of heart. Before victory, comes death.
Lent, is the spiritual game changer if you let it be. Similarly, the coronavirus pandemic, is a game changer … but can we make it a spiritual game changer too? In this time, we can gain victory over sin – eternal life by putting to death our desires that chain us to this world. This is what coronavirus brings. We can’t be ignorant to the effects this pandemic will have on many of us – the reality of loneliness, isolation, greed, selfishness, fear of death, and an immense focus on hygiene and cleanliness.
If we shift our mindset to our inner selves, we soon see that we are asleep at the wheel and God is trying to wake us up. Lent is a time of exposing ourselves… Figuring out where we’re missing the mark. It’s a time to realign ourselves with the path of the Cross.
The loneliness and isolation we turn into a dwelling place for the Lord.
The greed and selfishness we turn into an acceptable fast of the Lord where we “share our bread with the hungry” and “bring to our house the poor who are cast out.”
The fear of death we turn into fear of God, strength in tribulation and opening our arms wide open to accept the Cross just as Christ did.
At a time when hygiene and cleanliness are paramount, are our hands clean of sin? Have we rushed to dirty our tongue with the words we speak? Have we clouded the eye of our body? Do we clean the outside while our soul lies among the “swine” as the prodigal son did?
During this time, we must remember Christ’s rebuke the the Pharisees; “Now you Pharisees make the outside of the cup and dish clean, but your inward part is full of greed and wickedness”(Luke 11:39. So it can’t be a mere coincidence. Use this as an opportunity to reflect and assess. Grab the broom and clean out the inner room of your heart.
Have our social gatherings become an opportunity for gossiping and bad mouthing others? Have we lost ourselves to the “practices” of our faith instead of the real essence of orthodoxy? Have we lost the importance of fellowship and unity in service? Do we just assume because our youth “are in church” they’re okay? With so many churches in lockdown, we cannot allow our spiritual lives to be put on hold but we must strive to fill our inner lives in the secret place, for our Father who sees in secret will reward us openly (Matthew 6:4), especially in this time of uncertainty.
This period could be God’s way of saying,”Behold, the Bridegroom is coming; go out to meet Him” (Matthew 25:6). We must stop hoarding toilet paper and start filling our lamps with oil. Repentance is change, and change we must. The Bridegroom is coming to that guy that comes to church and leaves because He feels no love… He is coming to your friend stuck in that sin that is destroying them… He is coming to that girl in your class that is depressed and feels no one understands her. What are we doing to prepare them?
This is a wake up call! If we use it wisely, this Lent can become for us an opportunity to share in the immense Glory of the Resurrection. We too can experience the purification and change that Christ demonstrated for us in the wilderness. Through this isolation, doom, and darkness of our selfish human behaviour, our “healing shall spring forth speedily”, we “shall call, and the Lord will answer”, our “Light will break forth like the morning” (Isaiah 58:8).