In the Gospel of Mark, we are told that when Jesus began His public ministry, His theme was “Repent, and believe in the gospel.” (Mk 1:15). Those two elements of faith, coming from Christ Himself, serve us well as a Lenten guide.
To believe in the Gospel first requires believing in God Himself. The Gospel message only makes sense if it is based in the belief that God exists. The Gospel is not simply a human creation of literature or oral culture. It is the Word of God, the creator and giver of life.
To believe involves, among other aspects, recognizing the good that comes from that loving God and the sin that has been offered to Him by the human race and at times by ourselves. Our human nature, made beautiful by God in creation, has been defaced by the sins of our first parents, and
by our own sins.
For that reason, the message of Jesus also calls us to repent. We are to express to God our sorrow for our sins and we are to break with our sinfulness.
As Catholics, we spend six weeks of Lent pointing ahead, preparing for the Sacred Triduum. We seek to deepen belief and heighten repentance so that we might enter into the 3 most sacred days on our calendar, Holy Thursday, Good Friday and Holy Saturday with the Easter Vigil Mass. All three days have a deeply Eucharistic component.
On Holy Thursday, the evening celebration is the Mass of the Lord’s Supper. That Mass joins us with the apostles around the table of the Last Supper. We rejoice to hear the words of Jesus spoken at the consecration, “This is my body. This is my blood.” By those words, the True Presence of Jesus was given to the Church for all time.
Jesus then said that His body was given up for us, and His blood poured out so that sins may be forgiven. In this way, Jesus joined the Eucharist to His body and blood to be offered on the cross the following day. And so, the Eucharist places us with Mary and John at the foot of the cross at every Mass.
On Easter Sunday, Jesus took great pains to show His friends that He had risen in His body — the same body that they had known and could recognize, but now glorified. In faith, we rejoice also in the link between the Eucharist and Easter Sunday.
In this year when the Church in the United States is making special efforts to deepen and revive our faith in the Eucharist and the True Presence, the Eucharist should have a special importance for us during Lent. I would urge that we especially highlight the importance of the Mass of the Lord’s Supper on Holy Thursday evening.
Check your parish schedule now and reserve that time on your calendar in order to be present. When going to Mass or making a visit to the tabernacle or to Eucharistic adoration during these weeks of Lent, make a special effort to prepare your soul and mind for Holy Thursday night. Each time you are at Mass this Lent, offer your adoration at the words of the consecration, at the raising of the host and chalice, and during your reception of communion, as a means of preparing for the Mass of the Lord’s Supper. Then go to that Mass, with the family or perhaps inviting someone who has not yet come back after COVID. Thank Jesus for the gift of Himself, both 2,000 years ago and now in the Eucharist.
Don’t forget also that the great act of repentance is to join ourselves to the sacrament of reconciliation. Please make a Lenten confession. In the Diocese of Rockford, “Be Reconciled Day” will be March 20. All our parishes work to hear confessions from 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. Check your parish bulletin for particular details or visit http://bereconciled.rockforddiocese.org">bereconciled.rockforddiocese.org