Lenten Reflection - Day 9, March 10

And if Christ has not been raised, then your faith is useless…
1 Corinthians 15:17

Additional Reading: 1 Corinthians 15:12-20; Romans 6:1-11

As a parent, the season leading up to Christmas is one of the most fun times of the year. It reminds me of how excited I got when I was a kid and something big was coming up – the anticipation was the best part, I just didn’t know it! With my kids now, we’ve developed a bit of a tradition. Instead of telling the number of days before Christmas, we tell them, “you go to bed and get up … and then you go to bed and get up … and then you go to bed and get up,” and so on according to how many days are left. It makes for a lot of fun (for the parents at least!) and excitement (for all)!

For centuries the church did the same thing for Easter. The Sunday's prior to Lent were called Septuagesima, Sexagesima and Quinquagesima, telling us it was approximately 70, than 60 and then 50 days before Easter. Other cultures kept up the tradition in Lent. For example, in French, Lent is called Carême, an abbreviation of "quarantieme" the 40th day before Easter.
This name, survived from a long-since gone tradition, illustrates how much this season is focused on Easter. It is not merely about repentance per se; it is about turning from everything in our lives to focus on the one thing that is necessary namely, Christ's death and resurrection and our participation in it, even now. Lent is very much a season focused not on itself, but on entering ever deeply into Christ's death so as to enjoy his resurrection. It's almost as if each day in Lent should have its own name, the 39th, the 38th and so on until we get to the wonderful night of nights, when the tomb became filled with light and life!

Prayer: Prepare us, dear Lord, by allowing us to enter into this journey toward Easter. May the focus of this day and this season be on the one thing we need most, the resurrected Jesus, alive in our hearts.