Lent V
Michael Hill
As we enter week five in our Lenten journey, many of us feel like we’re in the middle of a long marathon. I remember wondering, as a child going to church with my mother, why this period of the liturgical year always felt so depressing. The cross was covered with cloth; flowers, if there were any, were subdued; and our traditional calls of “Alleluia” were silenced for a forty-day period that felt like a very long march to the “finish line” of Easter.
The Lenten-Easter Cycle should be a journey, one that calls us to look honestly at what we’re doing with our lives and how we’re spending our time. But this journey isn’t meant to be taken alone. In recent generations, Lent has evolved into a period for private spiritual growth, marked by personal penance and efforts at strengthening one’s own will. While such efforts have merit, Lent can be much more: it can be a shared experience of renewal and a recommitment to a broader sense of mission as a community.
In this Sunday’s reading from John, Judas Iscariot criticizes Mary Magdalene for anointing Jesus with perfume when there were poor and hungry people to feed. We see in Mary a great act of discipleship, and a wonderful contrast to Judas. While Mary acts—then and there—out of her love of Jesus, anointing his feet and using her hair to dry them, Judas simply stands back and speaks piously of her being extravagant and impractical, not even heeding his own counsel to serve the poor.
Mary gives us an alternative for Lent, one that calls us to act extravagantly and passionately to show our love for Jesus. The Gospel story calls us to examine ourselves: Do we reach out to help others—here and now—or do we speak piously about the world’s problems but leave them to others to solve? While we can certainly mirror Christ’s love by giving up worldly goods, imagine what we could accomplish if we instead choose to act in response to God’s call to service.
There is much to be done in our world, and we have a chance every day to offer a sacrifice in a way that demonstrates love and compassion for others. Think of the impact we could have if each of us gave one hour a week to a volunteer cause? Or imagine the difference we might effect in a more intimate way if we put some of our work aside and started listening to someone who needed to be heard; or if we turned off the television, shared a meal, and tried to understand someone else’s experiences.
Certainly, Lent can seem like a long haul, but in this journey there is also a great opportunity for you and me to think differently about how we respond to this “spiritual workout.” Christ has given us a strong model of selfless love. Imagine the difference we could make if we thought of Lent not in terms of “giving up” but rather of “giving in” to the call to serve others.