The invitation to enter into Lent is issued by an oracle from the prophet Joel. Those prophetic words are much more than a fervorino or a vibrant and urgent exhortation because it constitutes a word of revelation. Oracle is the English translation of the Hebrew word dabar, which is a simple reference to the word or utterance of God without any specific indication of how this would be elicited. In the New Testament, though, oracle translates the Greek word logion (sg. λόγιον) or in its plural form logia (pl. λόγια) meaning a single divine utterance or multiple utterances. Generally, the term’s singular version or logion at least in New Testament scholarship, is reserved for a divine saying of Jesus. A collection of those sayings of Jesus, then, scholars call logia.
The oracle in the Book of Joel puts God at its center, who is the Speaker and defines Himself as “gracious and merciful…slow to anger…rich in kindness (or hesed in Hebrew)…relenting in punishment.” Those descriptions are not how most people imagine God the Almighty (Heb. El Shaddai). No strong man, able to dominate others, would ever be expected to act like that. Even more so, you would likely be hesitant to implore the mercy of Someone who is Lord God Almighty by asking God to spare…your people. The first of those revealed divine attributes is gracious [or tender] and merciful that elicit a well-known human feeling, yet in this oracle they characterize God.
Being merciful has suffered from the development of language so that, now, understood as pity, it has assumed a tinge of condescension, which does not reflect its Biblical connotation – the Hebrew word hesed means loyalty between two persons, united in a variety of bonds between them. So, mercy stems from a gut-wrenching love that penetrates to the deepest levels. Tenderness and mercy, while feelings expressing concrete attitudes instead of feelings, define God who cannot be known in Himself, but who can only be known through what He does. By asking God to return, asking Him to forgo punishment and to fill us with His blessings, those are the reasons why we can offer the proper sacrifice of a life marked by Lenten acts of self-denial.
Sacrifices are offered not as an act attempting to force God to change, but the motivation for doing so comes from the fullness of tenderness and mercy that is in God alone. Hearts closed by sin must be opened to God’s mercy and, by doing so, God is moved by that sacrifice and has mercy on His people. The fast is announced by the sound of the trumpet, and a sacred assembly or convocation is called that is universal in its scope. The priests—standing between the porch and the altar—pray to God on the people’s behalf because, soon, the veil will be lifted. Daunted by the prospect of 40 days of self-denial that lay ahead, let us pray with the psalmist: “A willing spirit sustain in me,” seeking a change only God can bring about in us. In this truly acceptable time, let us “not receive the grace of God in vain.”
Lent Understood as a Threshold, Porch & Door
The threshold of Lent is crossed on Ash Wednesday and, so, the following three days can be understood in terms of the porch of a house where you pause before seeking admission into the house itself. Thus, the three days after Ash Wednesday constitute the liturgical porch that leads up to the opening of the season’s great door or the First Sunday of Lent. Once crossing the threshold, those first three days allow for a gradual spiritual entry into the true beginning or the Sunday following Ash Wednesday in which the Lord is tempted in the desert by Satan.
Lent Renewed after Vatican II
The double focus of baptism and penance in the season of Lent was restored with the reforms of Vatican II, particularly with the Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy (SC, 1963) and the Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults (RCIA, 1972). From what had been the primary (and often solitary) focus on penance, the conciliar document reminds the Church of the original baptismal character of Lent, “The two elements which are especially characteristic of Lent—the recalling of baptism or the preparation for it, and penance—should be given greater emphasis in the liturgy and in liturgical catechesis. It is by means of them that the Church prepares the faithful for the celebration of Easter …” (SC, 109). The constitution also endorses a greater use of the baptismal features of Lent, including those “of an earlier tradition” (SC, 109a). This conciliar emphasis was brought to more perfect fruition with the promulgation of the final draft of the RCIA in 1988. “The sacraments of initiation are celebrated during the Easter Solemnities, and preparation for these sacraments is part of the distinctive character of Lent. Accordingly, the Rite of Election should normally take place on the first Sunday of Lent and the period of final preparation of the elect should coincide with the Lenten season. The plan arranged for the Lenten season will benefit the elect by reason of both its liturgical structure and the participation of the community” (RCIA, 126). The Elect prepare for full initiation at Easter, whereas life-long Catholics seek to rediscover their baptismal innocence.
Nature and dignity 