Day 40: Lent

DAY 40: LENT

The 40 Days of Lent ends this evening, with the opening of the Mass of the Lord's Supper and the beginning of the Sacred Triduum.  I end this 40 Boxes for 40 Days with a box of Lenten materials.
St. Benedict said that "Our lives should be an eternal Lent."  By this, he didn't mean that our lives should be all sackcloth and ashes.  In fact, the word Lent comes from the Old Engliush for "spring."  Our whole lives should be one of joyful anticipation of the opening up of all creation.  At the same time, our whole lives should be marked by the disciplines of prayer (communing with God), fasting (letting go of that which distracts us from God), and almsgiving (channeling our lives in service to the poor).  So even as we leave these 40 Days behind, we take with us what we have learned through our prayer, fasting, and almsgiving. 

As we leave Lent and enter the Sacred Triduum, let us pray that our lives will be an eternal Lent.

Just as a single offense brought condenmation to all, a single righteous act brought all acquittal and life. 
                                                                                              - Romans 5: 18