In Misericordiae Vultis (the Pope’s letter announcing the Jubilee Year of Mercy), Pope Francis asked us to live Lent this year “more intensely as a privileged moment to celebrate and experience God’s mercy.”
Lent, the time of year when we let go of things, give up things, become more ascetical, can be lived as a privileged moment to celebrate? What’s going on here? some might ask. How can giving up, getting along with less—the side of Lent many of us focus much on—be something so wonderful we would want to celebrate and experience it more intensely? As I was doing some checking around for this topic images of dour desert dwellers still had a hold on the collective imagination. I could see asceticism as a word was still in need of a little good PR.
I decided to start with the root of this word and build up from there for I believed the Pope was truly on to something beautiful and special when he spoke of Lent as being a privileged time to be celebrated.
Asceticism comes from the Greek “askein” - to train the body. It simply means the effort, the labor extended to reach a goal—it does not speak of any contempt or disgust with the material world. Being excessively strict, bleak, and sometimes, pointless, is not the aim of ascetical practices. Cultivation of virtues, strengthening of character, and freedom to love God fully and more completely is. Much less daunting or dour when looked at this way.
When we wish to attain other goals, such as gain mastery over some sport or musical instrument we readily submit our bodies to various practices and exercises we are told will help move us towards these goals, even if they are at times boring, repetitious, or uncomfortable because we trust they will bring about the desired results. And as those improvements and gains come along from our sacrifices we probably, at times, do celebrate in some way our successes and find them privileged moments.
In order to attain our desired spiritual goal, union with God, we also need to let go of things such as our time or foods we like or overcome our dislike of physical discomfort for a while to help achieve our aim. Like an athlete or musician we can’t go forward gracefully, with ease, when we are carrying unnecessary weight and baggage.
Asceticism is an act of love, a choice on our part to willingly surrender our various appetites and needs, stripping away that which keeps God at bay and bringing about a conversion of heart that more readily says ‘yes’ to our Lord. I see what the Pope was getting at—our practice of self-denial during Lent helps detach us from lesser things and helps us to “rediscover all things in the logic of the Gospel,” as he said in a September 2013 Angelus message. That ‘logic,’ especially of love and service, transforms us into something better and brings us joy. That, of course, is worth celebrating and being just a bit more intense about.
Asceticism does, then, have a place in our lives.
Ascetic discipline does not spare our sensibility—the ascetical life, therefore, must be begun and carried on with a supreme respect for everything that makes us human. - Thomas Merton -
No one can live without sensory or corporeal pleasure. - Saint Thomas Aquinas -
2 February 2016