Lent is over ... what now?

Lent is over …. what now?

Lent is over, as so are the various challenges which we may have set ourselves. For myself, whilst I did not give up chocolate or my cup of tea first thing in the morning (to which I am a slave) or anything like that. Instead, I identified a very particular area of my life which needed to be addressed and changed and, with the help of the discipline of prayer, I set about doing that. Now that Lent is over I must be honest and admit that I am feeling slightly bereft because I don't want to allow myself to slip back to where I was before: that I want to continue on this journey. Where is this journey leading? Our Lenten journey must, ultimately, be one which leads us to freedom, the sort of freedom which Jesus wants for us, the sort of freedom which can only really be acquired when we have fully accepted that the key to perfect joy and freedom lies in being able to completely forget ourselves in order to serve God and those whom God has given us to serve.

Our Christian vocation calls us to say 'no' to ourselves more often than we do - certainly beyond the bounds of Lent. Saying 'no' to ourselves is naturally hard, because it goes against our deepest instinct: our self. However, it is in saying 'no' to the selfish aspect of our self that we allow the Christ part of our self to develop within us, the part of us which seeks to serve rather than be served; to give love rather than to seek it; the part of us which is quick to forgive and which searches for ways in which to establish peace.

This is what Jesus meant when he said that: "a grain of wheat remains no more than a single grain unless it is dropped into the ground and dies. If it does die, then it produces many grains" (John 12:24).

The crop - the fruit - that Jesus wants us to produce cannot be produced until we have learned to set our selfish self aside. This part of us has got to die in order to produce the crop that Jesus is looking for. When Jesus stood on Golgotha, having been stripped of his last possession - his robe - he was naked, there was not much more to give. Then, in his crucifixion, he had given the last and only thing he was able to give to His Father: his life. There was no further way in which he was able to say 'no' to himself - he had given absolutely everything. And what astounding and overwhelming fruit that act of self-denial bore: it brought about humanity's full and everlasting release from darkness and death.

The potential in each and every one of us to bear fruit is huge, but this potential will not be realised by magic: we need to play our own part, and Jesus - throughout the gospels - gives us the perfect example of how to play that part.

Whilst we rightly rejoice and resume our joyous "Alleluia's" at Christ's resurrection, let us not forget how much we have grown and learnt not only about God but ourselves during Lent, and perhaps consider creating further 'mini-Lents' for ourselves so that that growth may continue.

The Church has always recommended that Fridays (and in some religious communities Wednesdays also) are kept as days when we deny ourselves in some way - normally by avoiding meat (though I am sure there are more interesting and challenging things to avoid). This guideline is not meant to oppress us or to make us feel browbeaten into obeying rules and regulations, but to encourage our growth towards God which is so wonderfully accelerated during Lent. To capture, regularly, the grace and joy of Lent and to call us over and over again to turn away from self and more fully towards God.

My brothers and sisters, I implore you by God's mercy to offer your very selves to him: a living sacrifice, dedicated and fit for his acceptance, the worship offered by mind and heart. Adapt yourselves no longer to the pattern of this present world, but let your minds be remade and your whole nature thus transformed. Then you will be able to discern the will of God, and to know what is good, acceptable, and perfect. (Rom 12:1-2)