Understanding Lent

Lent starts on a moveable Ash Wednesday, because Easter is determined by the date of the spring full moon.  Ash Wednesday is always 46 days before Easter.  This makes Epiphany, the season before Lent, a season of fluctuating length in order fit the 46 days of Lent into the calendar so Lent ends the Saturday before Easter Sunday.  This year Ash Wednesday is on February 22nd and Lent lasts until Saturday, April 8th.

Jesus as the good Shepherd, https://www.ravennamosaici.it/en/gallery/# Mausoleum of Galla Placidia, Ravenna, Italy Mosaic depicting Jesus as the Good Shepherd.  Built in the 5th century to hold the remains of Galla Placidia, daughter of Teodosius the Great.  She was the regent of the Western Roman Empire.  She died in Rome in 450 CE and was buried in the family vault in Rome.  Who is buried in the mausoleum is unknown.  Located over the entrance door the scene shows Jesus with his flock. 

Lent is only 40 days long, reminiscent of the 40 days Jesus was tested in the wilderness.  But the season of Lent covers 46 days.  Because Lent is 40 days of penance, prayer and preparation, the additional 6 days are the Sundays.  Sundays are traditionally days when we celebrate Christ’s resurrection and the Holy Spirit’s work in our lives.  Therefore those 6 days are not included in the 40 days of Lent.

Lent is time of preparation, as we prepare ourselves to receive the gift which God gave to all people in the form of Christs’ death on the cross and resurrection of Jesus from the grave.  For some, this is a time of confusion.  Tradition says that we should give up something, a form of penance, reminiscent of Jesus giving up his life as an atonement for our sins.  Typically, the early church gave up eating meat on Fridays.  Today, for many, the “giving up” has morphed into giving up a luxury we have grown used to, that is not essential to our lives.

Originating in the Catholic Church the earliest records of Lent reach as far back as 339 CE, recording Lent as a fasting tradition.  The church also includes other ways of observing Lent such as the giving of our time, talents and alms.  There is also a strong focus of sharing what we have with those who have not.  St. John Chrysostom (an Eastern Orthodox Church Father archbishop born 347 CE in Antioch) and his saying , “Not to enable the poor to share in our goods is to steal from them and deprive them of life. The goods we possess are not ours, but