Peter EspeutTODAY IS Ash Wednesday, the first day of the Holy Season of Lent when Christians examine their lives with a view of weeding out imperfections.
Despite being fundamentally good, we humans struggle with the powerful temptations from the love of pleasure (hedonism), power (tyranny) and material things (wealth).
In the desert after his baptism, Jesus is portrayed as facing these temptations from the person of the devil himself and he triumphs through the strength of his human nature. There is no human being that does not experience pleasure, control material possessions, and exercise some sort of authority over others, and these things are not evil in themselves. But there are people whose lives are ruled by the quest for pleasure in food or drink, sex or drugs, where they lose their freedom for a real type of slavery; there are those whose lives are ruled by the quest for material things, and they become selfish and rapacious; and there are those whose lives are ruled by a quest for power and control over the lives of others, which leads to haughtiness, self-importance, favouritism, personal advantage and injustice.
The struggle for perfection, which is the vocation of Christians, requires us to continually examine our lives to root out any of these tendencies which take us off "The Way".
Self-incrimination
And that is where Lent comes in, for the Church gives us this season so that every year, we are guided into self-examination, self-incrimination, repentance and conversion. The Church in many ways our Mother guides her children towards perfection by providing opportunities for us to improve ourselves, and we should make use of them.
During Lent we are encouraged to tackle these temptations head on. To tackle the temptation to hedonism we are encouraged to deny ourselves whatever gives us pleasure: meat (if we like meat), food in general (called fasting), and alcohol. To tackle the temptation to live for material things we are encouraged to give away what we have (giving alms).
To tackle the temptation to pride we are encouraged to put ourselves at the service for others, and to spend extra time in prayer, which recognises our subservience to God.
Christians will recognise these as the three injunctions of Jesus, who said "When you fast" (not if) and "When you give alms" (not if) and "When you pray" (not if). Of course we can do these at any time of the year, but left to ourselves we might never get to them.
Lent is the special time each year when we are encouraged to make a special effort to become better persons, to improve our characters. We should take full advantage of the season this year. Lent is for individuals, and there can be no equivalent for nations and governments. When we freely choose against hedonism, selfishness and tyranny, we impose the necessary constraints on ourselves.
Free society
In a free society, governments cannot impose those choices on whole populations, or that would itself be tyranny. We can only hope that politicians will examine themselves and promote policies which lead to justice. Politicians need Lent.
I think it is good that the St. Ann by-election is being held in the season of Lent. I hope that we will use this opportunity to critically examine our electoral system and our political system, for there is much there which needs to be rooted out.
I wish we were as good at criticising ourselves as we are at criticising others. The mote in the next person's eye always seems more visible than the log in our own. And then even if we have been honest with ourselves and have become aware of our undue attachment to pleasure, power and wealth, we may choose not to change our orientation. Lent cannot make us better; because we are free, we have to take the decision to make the change. Contrary to what fundamentalists argue, conversion is not one big decision but a series of little decisions. Even people who are converted need to constantly improve themselves.
Teaching people that once they are "saved" they cannot sin again, (and that the unsaved are the sinners) makes it difficult for this kind of "Christian" to advance on the road to perfection.
I wish you all a happy Lent! This process of improving ourselves is a tremendously fulfilling one, and brings real happiness. And of course, the season of Lent ends with Good Friday and Easter which, for Christians, is the source of joy and Alleluia!
Peter Espeut is a deacon of the Roman Catholic Church, and is executive director of an environment and development NGO.
