We Retreat to Seek

Harry Scherer
Class of 2022

(4/2019) Recently, I overheard a particularly patient and caring person describe the season of Lent to someone who had never heard of it. "It is a recalibration," she said. "It is time to get away while staying exactly where you are."

This simple, yet wise, description of the holy season of penitence led me to consider the profound observation that one observes Lent exactly where one is. The beauty of these 40 days of prayer, fasting and almsgiving can be observed at any time and at any place. This is where the action of recalibration occurs. A scale does not become balanced by moving the base of the scale; it is the beams which need to reach harmony with each other.

Consider the charge to pray. It is an activity in which the Son partook. It has been prescribed by the Saints since the time of Peter. Certainly, people do not continue to pray just to emulate the actions of the Incarnate Word and His followers, while this would be a noble task. St. ThérPse of Lisieux said, "For me, prayer is a surge of the heart; it is a simple look turned toward heaven, it is a cry of recognition and of love, embracing both trial and joy."

This description of prayer has always prodded me to take part in this divine activity. It is an escape from the mundanity of ordinary life and a momentary participation in the divine. The surge of the heart lifts the soul up from the confines of the body and allows the mind to quickly meet a portion of the peace of heaven.

The next charge which we are given during this season is to fast. This is an activity which is most similar to the question, "what are you giving up for Lent?" At the very least, we are called to "give something up" as a sacrifice for the sins we have committed and in solidarity with the rest of the Church and the world. In addition, a direct effect of intentional and quiet fasting is the betterment of the soul. Because of this, we are called to take advantage of that betterment and act in a more Christ-like manner.

What is the purpose of cutting sweets from our diets for 40 days if we still speak in a salty way to our family? Why cut music in the car from our commutes if we cannot have peace in our souls? The immediate vocations of one who is fasting during the season of Lent is to draw spiritual benefit from the way in which we are physically denying ourselves.

This vocation is actually immensely convenient. Because we are not confined to a specific time or place in which to deny ourselves and offer that denial for the good of souls and the world, it can be achieved when any tribulation comes up; we are certain that tribulation does not confine itself to time or place. Again, the nature of the season which emphasizes recalibration reemerges in the aspect of fasting. This is a rare occurrence for a Christian during any other time of the year, and an extinct occurrence for the rest of the world. Because we are called to "deny ourselves, take up our cross, and follow" Christ especially during these 40 days, the activity of fasting makes this denial as easy and fast as possible.

Certainly, there is nothing easy and fast about removing sweets from our diets and removing complaint from our lips. The Church recognizes that this is a difficult task but is also cognizant of the fact that this activity unites the members of the Mystical Body of Christ to the Cross. For the 2000 years that the Church has existed, She has always taken the opportunity to touch the Cross of Christ, for it was by this Cross that the salvation of man was made possible.

Finally, Christ and the Church calls us to give alms. The apparent intention of this practice is for the soul to remind the body that physical objects are not the end, or purpose, to life. A small, or even large, denial of physical goods can recalibrate the soul to better understand life’s individual and absolute purpose. Specifically, by giving alms, we are given the grace to come closer to understanding why all human persons are on earth, and why we are individually on earth.

The practice of the Lenten season is, simply put, an admission that the cares of the soul are superior to the cares of the body. In my eyes, the most difficult aspect of living out the fulness of the season, is recognizing and acting upon this superiority. After all, we are being called to believe that an inanimate reality, which we have never seen with our physical eyes or heard with our physical ears, is more important than the body, from which we act upon the will of the soul.

Alternatively, the beauty of the season lies in the heightened use of our spiritual eyes and ears. We begin to see earthly matters from a supernatural perspective. We begin to see things closer to the way in which God sees them. Is there a more significant way in which to live? Can anyone on the earth suggest a more lasting and spiritually fulfilling manner of life?

As we pray, fast and give alms, we are given the opportunity to recognize these activities as eternal goods, temporarily beneficial for our bodies in this life and eternal beneficial for our souls in the next. As we move to recalibrate our souls from a tepid water to a flowing stream, we should be aware and intentional of keeping our souls by the brook of the stream. Instead of settling for mediocrity, we are called to be uncomfortable with our insufficient attempts at greatness. Instead of keeping our sights on the things of this world, we are called to escape our ways while staying exactly where we are.

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