Archbishop Charles J. Chaput
This Wednesday, Feb. 10, is Ash Wednesday, marking the start of the penitential season of Lent for 2016. In place of a column this week, Archbishop Charles Chaput offers responses to a series of questions posed by CatholicPhilly.com and Catholic News Agency (CNA).
CatholicPhilly/CNA: How could Catholics live this Lenten season as a really special time and not just as a “Catholic tradition?”
Archbishop Chaput: We need to understand that the materialism of modern life, the constant modern emphasis on buying and consuming, is based on the falsehood that we “deserve” convenience and comfort; that our opinions and desires really matter. Of course, in the most important sense, we do matter. We’re infinitely precious in the eyes of God. But the world will forget us very quickly when we’re gone, and all of us will be gone sooner than we think. There are no exceptions. So the healthiest way for each of us to live Lent is to reflect on our mortality and take a hard, clear look at the behavior and choices that guide our typical day. If we don’t like some of what we see — and that should include every one of us, if we’re honest — then Lent is the time to begin changing our direction.
CatholicPhilly/CNA: How can Catholics be “creative” in the way they live their Lent as a time for conversion?
Archbishop Chaput: We need to think past the obvious things to “give up” — desserts, wine, the movies — and concentrate on those things we cling to that we don’t really need but like to indulge. It’s different for every person: shopping, restaurants, coffee, etc. But even better is when we select some positive service to perform for another person, or volunteer where our time is needed by our parish or charity. The corporal and spiritual works of mercy are a great place to begin our Lenten reflections. We should adapt them to our circumstances and make a real effort to live them actively as we prepare for Easter. And of course, some daily time spent reading Scripture is always very fruitful.
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CatholicPhilly/CNA: From your pastoral experience, what do you think U.S. Catholics need the most to make of Lent a genuine time of conversion?
Archbishop Chaput: The single most important thing we can do, especially in this Year of Mercy, is to seek out the Sacrament of Penance on a regular basis; every other week would be ideal. Nearly everyone can do that if they try. Nothing has a more powerful and positive effect on the soul, other than the Eucharist itself. And we also need silence. If people can create some time every day — even just half an hour — when they eliminate all the distracting noise of American life, their spirit will naturally begin to grow. Daily life in the United States is so filled with appetites and tensions stimulated by the mass media that turning the media off almost automatically results in deeper and clearer thinking. And that interior quiet can very easily lead us to God.
CatholicPhilly/CNA: Do you find any relationship between living a good Lent and how Catholics live in the public square?
Archbishop Chaput: If you want to know how hard it can be to live a Christian life, just try overcoming one or two of your own worst faults. That takes self-knowledge, persistence, honesty, humility, courage — and this is exactly the task of conversion that all of us are called to every Lent. All of these virtues also underpin effective public witness. If you take your faith seriously enough to conform your own life to it, you’ll have very little trouble living and witnessing your faith in the presence of others, including the wider public square. In an election year – especially one that’s already so complicated – authentic Catholic witness is something the nation needs more than ever. That witness begins with each of us individually.
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Thank you, Archbishop Chaput for your catechesis and faithfulness to the Gospel that you witness not only with your words but most significantly with your actions. As this Lenten season begins, Mathew 7:14 comes to my mind: “How narrow the gate and constricted the road that leads to life. And those who find it are few.” In this year of Mercy I beg God that He opens our eyes and enlightens our minds and hearts so we become merciful to ourselves and to others; because according to Saint Mathew a lot of us go to eternal damnation. May we be merciful and implement the New Evangelization proposed by Our Lady in Fatima who requested that prayers and sacrifices be offered up for sinners because so many of them go to hell, she might have taken that from Mathew, but then in her mercy she added: as there is no one to pray for them. Our prayer is more powerful than the atomic bomb, may we realize this; our safety is in virtue and truth not in walls and hatred, may we practice that, our reward is in heaven, may we strive for that. God bless us all on this Feast of Our Lady of Lourdes, Mother of the Sick, Our Mother.
Words of wisdom. Thank you Archbishop Chaput.
Your clear, insightful, and salvation driven words about the importance of Penance should be a model for the pulpits of every single Catholic Church across the United States.
In this Jubilee Year of Mercy the Sacrament of Penance should be a critical and ongoing theme of the institutional Church, and what better way to get this message out than through the local pulpits. To have frequent sermons reminding Churchgoing Catholics of the beauty and soul saving benefits of the Sacrament of Penance, and how easy the Church has made Penance in this Jubilee Year. To know that our sins will be forgiven by a welcoming and loving Holy Mother Church. That all we need to do is come forward, say we are sorry and ask to be forgiven.
As we enter the Lenten season, wouldn’t it be appropriate to ask each and every Churchgoing Catholic as part of his Lenten duty and beyond, to commit to personally sharing this good news with one or two of his non Churchgoing Catholic friends each week? To let them know that the Church wants them back and is ready to receive them with open and loving arms?
And for those lapsed Catholics who are so wounded or scared to make the first move, wouldn’t it be great if each parish offered a private telephone number that they could call to ask questions and be reassured that they are loved no matter what, and that the Church stands ready to help them back, even if the road might be long and difficult?
Thank you, Archbishop Chaput, for your words of encouragement. Too often we get caught up with the busyness of daily life.
You remind us of the basics for Lent: prayer, fasting and charitable works. And the suggestion of reading the Scriptures – the living Word of God.
Thank you again. I remember you in my daily prayer ever since becoming Archbishop. Theses are demanding times for the Shepherds of our Church.
Thank you, Eminence. This is a wonderful pre-Lenten message to get us on the way toward having a meaningful spiritual experience. You are so right in stating that living a Christian life can be difficult. But we can strive to conform to living a wholesome Christian life by trying to do so one day at a time. If you try, you have a better opportunity to succeed and to thwart failure. I recall reading or hearing that the difficulties in life are meant to make us better and not bitter. Bitterness is certainly not a condition that one would want to carry around. It excess baggage. I will be trying to put your words into practice as well I can.
Again, thank you and God bless. Our love and prayers are always with you.
Thank you, Archbishop, for reminding us.