Reverse Lent

St. Francis of Assisi, the Mel Gibson of his day for attempting to bring history to life, invented the Stations of the Cross.

St. Francis also invented the re-creation of the manger scene.

He did both for the same reasons, so that we could understand what really happened to Jesus, the extreme poverty of His birth, the terrible suffering of His Passion.

Lent is the season where we try to more closely identity with the suffering of Jesus. Write that on the blackboard one hundred times.

So when one of our readers sent this list of ideas for Lenten fasting that came from an archdiocese newspaper, I read it with interest. My eyes flew out of my head, hit the monitor and bounced back in again. If I could take my head off and rest it in my lap so I wouldn't have to think about this list, it would help me immeasurably.

I could just brush the whole thing aside and say, with one fell swoop, it's just way too huggy New Ager, "let's feel good about ourselves, please does someone have a guitar? Mass is about to start"-ish for me.

But I feel I have to address the list, if this is the type of thing that's passing for a great plan for Lent these days. Here's the list. Sing along won't you? (I wish I had a guitar to strum):

Fast from judging others; feast on the Christ dwelling within them.
Fast from emphasis on differences; feast on the unity of all life.
Fast from apparent darkness; feast on the reality of light.
Fast from words that pollute; feast on phrases that purify.
Fast from discontent; feast on gratitude.
Fast from anger; feast on patience.
Fast from pessimism; feast on optimism.
Fast from worry; feast on trust.
Fast from complaining; feast on appreciation.
Fast from negatives; feast on affirmatives.
Fast from unrelenting pressures; feast on unceasing prayer.
Fast from hostility; feast on nonviolence.
Fast from bitterness; feast on forgiveness.
Fast from self-concern; feast on compassion for others.
Fast from personal anxiety; feast on eternal truth.
Fast from discouragement; feast on hope.
Fast from facts that depress; feast on truths that uplift.
Fast from lethargy; feast on enthusiasm.
Fast from suspicion; feast on truth.
Fast from thoughts that weaken; feast on promises that inspire.
Fast from idle gossip; feast on purposeful silence.

Now, don't get me wrong. You should keep this list out where you can see it all the time. But this isn't a good list of what to do for Lent. This is a list of things you should be doing in the first place.

For Lent we can pare this list down really quickly. The things I put in bold are actually sins. You should always be refraining from these things. I can't think that I've ever heard anyone have to encourage people to fast from sin. Take a break from sinning during Lent? And what? Get back to it in time for Spring Break?

Lord Have Mercy.

So cross off all the things in bold.

And cross off all that feasting. This is lent. No feasting.

Heaven help us.

Now the list looks like this:

Fast from emphasis on differences;
Fast from pessimism;
Fast from worry
Fast from complaining
Fast from negatives
Fast from unrelenting pressures
Fast from bitterness
Fast from personal anxiety
Fast from facts that depress;

Now the four things in bold italics are things that are more or less out of your control. It would be nice if we didn't have unrelenting pressure and depressing news which can cause personal anxiety. But here we are in the real world, not the world where the Care Bears live. It would be nice if you would put your faith in Jesus and calm down.

So out they go. Now we have:

Fast from emphasis on differences;
Fast from pessimism;
Fast from complaining
Fast from negatives
Fast from bitterness

Aren't these all just ways to describe the same thing? Suck it up. Walk it off.

So we're down to emphasizing our areas of agreement for Lent.

Well. Kum Bye YAH. That should bring us closer to Jesus' suffering.

The list reminded me of a character from the old Superman comics. I think the man came from a place called "Bizarro World" where everything was opposite. Lent in reverse, feast on being sin free and happy! Just jump ahead to Easter!

Next we'll have the reverse Stations of the Cross where we all play the glad game.
And we will.
Right after Lent.