Catholic Life Ministries

by Robert Fontana

Christians the world over are going on a 40-day retreat beginning on Ash Wednesday.  This is a very serious and somber time for those of us who claim to follow Jesus, made more serious and somber because of the Russian invasion of Ukraine.  Lent points us to the events that took place in Jerusalem when Jesus, through a non-violent movement, took over the Jerusalem temple (Palm Sunday), was betrayed by one of his closest followers and confidants, was abandoned by friends, condemned to death, tortured and executed by crucifixion as a political revolutionary.

Following Jesus’ resurrection, Jesus’s followers struggled to make sense of his death.  The story of two disciples walking to the village of Emmaus illustrates this struggle.  As the story goes, Jesus is not recognized as he walks up to two disciples who are leaving Jerusalem, downcast over the death of their teacher.  They are confused and cannot understand how their religious leaders could have killed this man that they considered a prophet.  Jesus reprimanded them, ““Oh, how foolish you are! How slow of heart to believe all that the prophets spoke.  Was it not necessary that the Messiah should suffer these things and enter into his glory?”  Jesus then explains to them why the Messiah had to suffer.  Jesus was the suffering servant whose death brought reconciliation between God and humanity and among humanity itself.

During Lent we walk with Jesus to the cross.  Let us do so mindful of the suffering of the Ukrainian people. We walk with the Messiah who had to suffer for our sake and our salvation; and we join in his work of redemptive suffering.  We do penance and acts of self-denial which train us to bear suffering for the love of God.  I hope that our Lenten prayer and sacrifice will include remembrance of so many innocent people who are suffering in this Eastern European conflict.

And if we are personally going through a time of actual suffering because of difficult life circumstances, such as illness or confronting real evil and injustice in society, we ask God to help us carry the cross of that suffering because it too can become life-giving and redemptive through Christ.  Let us pray that God will use the suffering we experience this Lent, our own and that of the war in Eastern Europe, to bring about something good in the world.  If God can turn an instrument of Roman execution into an instrument of salvation, God can certainly transform current trials and evils into something good.

Even such a somber and serious season, especially with the war hanging over the world like a dark cloud, still needs a party, one last “hurrah,” to help us enter into it properly.  Thus in Catholic countries all over the world, the season of “Carnival” or “Mardi Gras” is celebrated before Lent.  A very appropriate way to bring closure to Carnival and Ordinary Time and transition into the penitential season of Lent is to literally bury the word “Alleluia.”  That word, usually sung before the reading of the Gospels at Mass, is not sung during Lent.  It will not be heard again until the Easter vigil when the Church celebrates the resurrection of Jesus, who is God’s “Alleluia” to the world.

So, on Mardi Gras, Ash Wednesday, or on the Thursday or Friday that follows, gather with your family and friends to transition into the Lenten season and bury the “Alleluia” using the following prayer service, or something similar.

Bury the Alleluia in Preparation for Lent  – A prayer service to help you and your family, prayer group, office, and/or parish prepare for Lent. You can do this any day during the week of Ash Wednesday.

Materials: Take a legal size sheet of paper and, using a marker, write in large print “Alleluia.”  Have other markers of different colors available.  You will also need a shovel.

Leader  Lent is upon us.  It is the time we remember when God’s “Alleluia,” Jesus, took away the sins of the world through his death on the cross.

All  Alleluia!  Alleluia!  Alleluia!

Leader  The word “Alleluia” is a Hebrew word which means “Praise the Lord.”  It is appropriate to call Jesus “God’s Alleluia” because his entire life was an act of praise and worship of God.

 R1   Jesus is the word of God who is fully human and fully God.

 All  Alleluia!  Alleluia!  Alleluia!

R2   Jesus was obedient to Mary and Joseph, and from them he learned to do his Father’s will.

 All   Alleluia!  Alleluia!  Alleluia!

R3    Jesus preached the Kingdom of God.  He invited women and men to repent and believe in the good news of God’s immense love breaking into human history.

All  Alleluia!  Alleluia!  Alleluia!

R4  Jesus gathered together a community of disciples, women and men, and taught them the Beatitudes.

All  Alleluia!  Alleluia!  Alleluia!

R5  Jesus sent his disciples to proclaim the Kingdom of God and to heal the sick.

All  Alleluia!  Alleluia!  Alleluia!

 R6   Jesus forgave the woman accused of adultery and told her to sin no more.

All  Alleluia!  Alleluia!  Alleluia!

R7   Jesus washed the feet of his disciples and consecrated bread and wine into his body and blood.

All  Alleluia!  Alleluia!  Alleluia!

 Leader For the 40 days of Lent the Church “buries the Alleluia” by refraining from singing this sacred word in our liturgy.  We do so to remember the Lord Jesus, God’s Alleluia, the Lamb of God, who took the sins of the world with him to the grave so as to rob them of their power to destroy life.

What are the sins of the world today that destroy life?  Write them on the sheet of paper bearing the word “Alleluia.” Don’t forget to include the suffering Ukranian people.

[After all have written something on the paper, the “Alleluia” is placed in a hole in the ground and buried.]

 All Gracious God and Father, your beloved Son Jesus suffered death to give us life.  Help us during this Lenten season to deny ourselves and serve others in imitation of Him who lives with you, and the Holy Spirit, one God forever and ever.  Amen!

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