Lent is a 40-day period before Easter celebration through which we Christians prepare ourselves for this greatest feast of the liturgical year by praying, fasting and giving alms.

The liturgical roadmap of the Lenten itinerary gives us a thorough understanding of what Lent is all about. In the first Sunday we come to terms with our own human frailty. Christian life is a constant battle against “the principalities, against the powers, against the world rulers of this present darkness” (Eph 6, 12). By his victorious battle against temptation Christ enlightens our hearts with the sure hope and guidance that evil can be overcome.

The Transfiguration Sunday reminds us of the dire need of distancing ourselves from everyday life’s hustle and bustle so as to spend more time with God. We can only undergo this transfiguration experience if, on the example of Peter, James and John, we decide to let Jesus lead us up a high mountain apart (see Matt 17, 1). Because no one comes to the Father except through Jesus (see Jn 14, 6), the Father points to his beloved Son as the way, the truth and the life through whom the fulfilment of the Father’s will can be made possible. “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased; listen to him” (Matt 17, 5).

The third Sunday of Lent portrays God’s passion in getting to know each and everyone of his children by helping them familiarise themselves with him through the indwelling gift of the Holy Spirit. Jesus asked the Samaritan woman: “Give me a drink” (Jn 4, 7). In Pope Benedict’s words for this year’s Lent message, “only this water can extinguish our thirst for goodness, truth and beauty! Only this water, given to us by the Son, can irrigate the deserts of our restless and unsatisfied soul, until it ‘finds rest in God’, as per the famous words of St Augustine”.

The Sunday of the man born blind suggests Christ as the light of the world. Jesus personally confronts us with his penetrating question: “Do you believe in the Son of man?” (Jn 9, 35). If we believe, as the man born blind did (Jn 9, 38), Christ would restore us our spiritual vision in order that our faith is deepened to the extent that we may acknowledge him as our unique Saviour. He enlightens our darkness and brings us back to our true selves, that of being “children of light” (Eph 5, 8).

The concluding Sunday of Lent proclaims the undeniable truth that Christ is our resurrection and life. Before resurrecting Lazarus, Jesus declares: “I am the resurrection and the life; he who believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, and whoever lives and believes in me shall never die. Do you believe this?” (Jn 11, 25-26). We are called to share the same faith and hope in Jesus, as Martha courageously did.

“Yes, Lord; I believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God, he who is coming into the world” (Jn 11, 27). Faith in the resurrection and eternal life gives our human nature its appropriate and genuine existence. As the Holy Father wrote in his message: “God created men and women for resurrection and life, and this truth gives an authentic and definitive meaning to human history, to the personal and social lives of men and women, to culture, politics and the economy.”

The three traditional spiritual weapons of prayer, fasting and alms-giving concretise our conversion commitment. Prayer offers us a vital encounter with God’s Word. Fasting teaches us that when our ‘ego’ is deprived, God becomes recognisable in the faces of our brothers and sisters. Lastly, almsgiving inculcates in us the capacity to share what we have with others. Today salvation has come to these people! (Luke 19, 9).

■ Fr Mario Attard OFM Cap

San Gwann