Some Thoughts About Lent...
by Alexandru Radulescu, Religious Education Committee

Let’s think of what Lent actually means; its purpose.

It is a SACRIFICE.  Lent is not a set of blind rules set by strange monks ‘back in the day’.  It is actually an exercise of our free will.  God fashioned us this way: He meant us to be like Him, and that means to possess free will.

Remember the episode in Genesis 2:16-17 when God asked Adam and Eve to abstain from eating the fruit of one particular tree in Paradise? “You may freely eat of every tree of the garden; but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall die.”  That was actually the first time – from the very beginning of their existence – that people were asked to fast.

Many times we think of Lent as something hard: we have to pay attention to what we eat, we are hungry every three hours, we get tired faster, we lose weight, and so on.  So, we wonder how this is going to help us in our spiritual endeavors.  But if we think of it as an exercise of our free will, as a challenge, as an opportunity to discipline ourselves, then we will better understand it and be more inclined to practice it.

I know that in Romania our grandparents used to thoroughly wash all the kitchen tableware, vessels and even the door handles just before Lent started to make sure they were not defiled by any leftovers from non-Lenten foods.  That is how far people used to go in order to keep the Fast!  Now, I do not suggest doing that, but I do suggest that we should take it very seriously.  How serious?  Well, even Our Lord used fasting as a spiritual tool and weapon in order to purify Himself and fight against the devil.  After forty days of strict fasting in the desert He was prepared to fight the three temptations the devil put before Him.  Read Luke’s Gospel (4:2).

In addition, fasting does not mean abstaining only from certain types of food.  We are to abstain from any immoral behavior, to check with our conscience and pay attention to and try to eradicate our bad habits during this exercise.  And we know very well our bad habits that have to be worked on, particularly during this period.  Thus, Lent is a time for cleansing our bodies and souls.  (Note also that through fasting Christ left us an un-bloody way to atone for our sins, which replaced the bloody sacrifices of the Old Testament.)   Therefore, fasting is our duty.

Every one of the four Lenten periods has a particularity.  Christmas Lent symbolizes the 40 days of fasting Moses undertook while he was on Mount Sinai.  At that time, he received the Word of God in the Ten Commandments.  Today, we prepare ourselves to receive God in the flesh, by the Birth of our Savior, Jesus Christ.

Fasting is sacrifice, exercise, challenge, spiritual weapon and tool, cleansing of sins, and duty.  If we can pass this test, we will also be able to overcome passions that alter our spiritual health.  Our will needs to exercise in order to have strength, the same way athletes need training in order to succeed in competitions.  Try it!  Not because the priest or mom said so.  Just try it and you will feel the difference at the end, when you will welcome the new-born Christ in your heart and will be able to say with joy: Christ is born!  Glorify Him!

[Editor's Note:  Alexandru Radulescu is a graduate of the "Andrei Şaguna" Theological School in Sibiu, Romania, and also earned a Master's Degree from Sacred Heart Roman Catholic Major Seminary in Detroit, Michigan.  He serves as Cantor at St. George Cathedral in Southfield, Michigan, and is active with the Cathedral Senior A.R.O.Y. Chapter.]