Rector's Corner: The Math of Lent

Dear Friends in Christ: Anh chị em thân mến trong Chúa Kitô: Estimados Amigos y Amigas en Cristo:

Imitating President Gerald Ford on Saturday Night Live, comedian Chevy Chase once uttered what became an iconic line: "I was promised there would be no math."

Some inquisitive minds end up twisting their heads into pretzels when trying to count the days of Lent. We speak of the 40 days of Lent, but quick accounting shows that sum to be problematic. So how do we get to 40 days of Lent?

I'll sneak peak the answer: we don't...exactly. First of all we must remember that numbers in the scriptures are often symbolic, not literal. Thus, each time we hear forty in the scriptures, we connect moments of salvation history. While Noah is in the ark, it rains for forty days and forty nights. Moses spends forty days up on Mount Sinai. The Israelites spend forty years in the desert. Jesus spends forty days in the desert as part of his temptation. It is the same in our case - the forty days of Lent are symbolic if not literal. It is our time in the spiritual desert to be tried and prepared for encounter with God.

Lent began in the ancient Church as a pre-Easter fast that grew into the symbolic 40-day period. Pope St. Gregory the Great finalized the setting of the Lenten calendar in 601 by establishing Ash Wednesday as the beginning of Lent. Thus, the period from Ash Wednesday through the end of Lent was 40 days of fasting once you removed the six Sundays, which were not considered days of fast (46 days from Ash Wednesday through Holy Saturday inclusive, subtracting 6 Sundays to get to 40).

In the reform of the liturgical calendar following Vatican II, a subtle shift happened. Whereas in the old calendar, Lent did not end until Holy Saturday, the day of the Easter Vigil, now it ends on Maundy (Holy) Thursday. The structure of the Sacred Paschal Triduum (Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, Holy Saturday, Easter Sunday) essentially remains the same except that it is no longer considered part of Lent itself, but its own short distinct season or cycle. So Lent carries us until sundown on Maundy Thursday when the Church celebrates the Mass of the Lord's Supper.

Subtracting Good Friday and Holy Saturday from the Lenten math leaves us with 44 total days, minus the six Sundays, which leaves us with 38 days. Considering that Good Friday and Holy Saturday are days of fast, the number of days of pre-Easter fast haven't changed, just the categorization of them.

But if that is too much to remember, you can always invoke your inner Chevy Chase and remind everyone that you were promised there would be no math. The 40 days of Lent remain true from a scriptural symbolic and typological perspective - we are now in the desert. It is dry and we may grow Eliseo Lomeli, Ana Maria Paredes, Vanessa Pham, hungry and thirsty during this season. This will in turn subject us to greater Johnny Salinas, Dannika Simpson temptations. But if we remember the reason for our Lenten fast, we will "not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes forth from the mouth of God." (Matthew 4:4) Then we will be ready to encounter the Lord in a profound new way on the spiritual mountaintop that we call Easter.

O Sacred Heart of Jesus, we place all our trust in you! Amen!

Yours in Christ.

Vez Ru. Jefly L. Ban-Very Reverend Jeffrey L. Bame Pastor & Rector