The name of this liturgical season indicates its duration: forty days, which refers to the forty days Jesus spent in the desert before beginning his public mission (cf. Mt 4:1-11).
The number forty has a high symbolic value in biblical language: in Noah’s time, the flood lasted forty days (cf. Gen 7:12); still in Genesis, Isaac was forty when he married Rebekah (cf. Gen 25:20); Esau was forty when he married Judith and Basemat (Gen 26:34); Moses spent forty days in prayer on Mount Sinai before receiving the Tablets. Gen 25:20); Esau was forty when he married Judith and Basemat (Gen 26:34); Moses spent forty days in prayer on Mount Sinai before receiving the Tablets of the Law (Deut 9:9-11) and led the people of Israel for forty years in the desert until they reached the Promised Land.
Moses lived one hundred and twenty years (cf. Deut 34:7) and later Stephen divided these years into three stages (cf. Acts 7:20-40): forty years in Egypt, forty as a shepherd in Madian and forty in the desert; the twelve spies of Israel explored the land of Canaan for forty days (cf. Num 13:25); an Israelite punishment was that the guilty should receive exactly forty lashes (cf. Deut 25:3);
Goliath challenged the Israelites for forty days (1 Sam 17:16) until he was defeated by David; David reigned for forty years (cf. 1 Kings 2:11), the same period as his predecessor Saul (cf. Acts 13:21) and his son Solomon (cf. 1 Kings 11:42); the prophet Elijah spent forty days fasting in the desert before meeting God at Horeb (cf. 1 Kings 19:8); Jonah announced to Nineveh that he was going to meet God. The prophet Elijah spent forty days fasting in the desert before meeting God at Horeb (cf. 1 Kings 19:8); Jonah announced that Nineveh would be destroyed after forty days (cf. Jon 3:4).
In the New Testament, Jesus was presented in the Temple forty days after his birth, as the Law commanded (cf. Lk 2:22; see also Lev 12). Moreover, between the Resurrection and his Ascension, Jesus continued to appear and instruct the apostles for forty days. With regard to Lent, it must be said that the meaning of the number forty retains the same intention that led Jesus to withdraw into the desert before his mission: preparation.
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The spirituality of Lent is marked by the invitation to repentance and conversion. It is with this intention that at the opening of the Lenten season, during the rite of the imposition of ashes, the formula is pronounced: “be converted and believe in the Gospel”.
It’s a good time to do penance. Penance is defined by the Catechism as a radical reorientation of one’s entire life, a return, a conversion to God with all one’s heart, which involves a break with sin, an aversion to evil, with repugnance for the bad deeds committed, and which implies, at the same time, the desire and purpose to change one’s life, with the hope of divine mercy and trust in the help of his grace (cf. CCC 1431).
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Inner penance has various expressions, three of which stand out in particular:
1- Fasting consists of the voluntary deprivation (cf. CCC 1438) of a certain pleasurable good with the intention of mortifying the concupiscent flesh and making room for the new life generated by grace; it is commonly referred to food, however, it is not exclusive to this field; it is possible to fast from other things, such as the internet, social networks, murmuring, among others.
2- Almsgiving consists of renouncing a lawful good of one’s own and giving it freely to another, impoverishing ourselves and enriching the other with our sharing. Almsgiving is driven by charity, which leads us to give more than strict justice obliges us to give. This means that almsgiving does not involve giving what is superfluous, i.e. what is left over, but what is right for me to have and the lack of which will mean impoverishment. Pope Francis says: “Charity is the impulse of the heart that makes us come out of ourselves, generating the bond of sharing and communion.” (Message for Lent 2021).
3- Prayer is the cultivation of friendship with God. During Lent, Christians are invited to enter more deeply into this divine dialog, investing time and effort in praying more and better. The Holy Father invites us: “In recollection and silent prayer, hope is given to us as an inspiration and interior light, which illuminates the challenges and choices of our mission; for this reason, it is fundamental to recollect oneself in order to pray (cf. Mt 6:6) and to encounter, in secret, the Father of tenderness.” (Message for Lent 2021).
All Christians are invited during Lent to practice these three excellent forms of penance. It is important that they are carried out with the righteousness of a heart that sincerely seeks to be converted to God, and with discretion, so that they lead us to seek to be seen by the “Father who sees in secret” and not by men (cf. Mt 6:1-6, 16-18).
