by Bishop Raymond A. Lucker
Diocese of New Ulm

When I was young, Lent was about giving up things. We were taught that it was good to give up things we like in order to do penance and to walk with Jesus to His suffering and death on the cross. We were invited to make sacrifices and to join with the sacrifice of Christ.

Adults were to fast during the forty days of Lent which meant eating only one full meal each day. The two other meals were limited to two ounces for breakfast and eight ounces for lunch. Because of the rigors of the fast, many were excused. All those over the age of reason were also obliged to abstain from meat on Fridays and some other special days during Lent.

Children were urged to make similar sacrifices and were told that it was good to give up eating candy, for example, or going to movies, and giving the money saved to the poor. Other penitential observances were stressed, such as kneeling down together each night to say the rosary, making the Way of the Cross as individuals or as a congregation, going to Mass more frequently, and giving money to the poor, especially the missions.

As I grew older, I came to understand that the sacrifice of Christ, and therefore our sacrifices, means more than giving up something. Sacrifice means above all to give. It means giving a gift which makes one holy. Jesus gave up his life for our salvation, but a better way to express it is that Jesus gave everything he had to do the will of God.

He gave by teaching and reaching out to everyone. He gave by touching and healing others. He gave by being present in the lives of other people and calling them to work with him to build a new society where God reigned. He gave and gave and gave for us and for our salvation and in that way made salvation possible for us. By entering into his death and resurrection, through baptism and faith, we share his life.

The Holy Eucharist, which renews the life-giving sacrifice of Jesus, means literally giving thanks. Every time we gather around the altar with Jesus we offer our lives, our work, our joys and sorrows, all that we have and are. We join these with the gifts of bread and wine which become the Body and Blood of Christ. We offer all of that ‘through him, with him, and in him’ for the glory and praise of God. Then we receive Jesus and are invited to go and bring him with us to love and change the world.

The gifts that we give in the sacrifice of the Mass are brought into clearer focus during Lent. I decided that during this Lent I would try to go back to the old practice of fasting every day using the modified rules of having one full meal each day, a simple breakfast, and a light lunch. The key thing is not eating between meals and especially avoiding the ‘fourth meal’; that is snacking between 8:00 - 10:00 in the evening.

A couple of days before Lent started I attended the diocesan board meeting of the Council of Catholic Women. Among other things, they had a dish of Valentine’s candy on the serving table. I put a few pieces in my pocket to eat on the way home. When I arrived home, left over were two Valentine hearts, the larger ones with the little messages on them. Without thinking I took them out of my pocket and put them on the dresser. They have remained there since then.

The two little pieces of candy have become kind of an obsession, a kind of symbol of my Lenten fast. One says ‘smile’ and the other ‘love you’. Every time I go by the dresser they seem to call, ‘We are just two little pieces of candy. Why don’t you finish us off?’

I want to try to be faithful to giving of myself during Lent. I want to give my life to Jesus so that through his Holy Spirit I may be of better service to God’s people.

Lent reminds us that what God wants of us is a relationship with him. He said, ‘Repent, the Kingdom of God is at hand. Believe in the good news.’

That means change your life, be converted each day, give yourself to God.

The two little pieces of candy remind me of the meaning of Lent.

March, 1999