We are a few days into Lent. It is a curious observation that apart from Easter and Christmas, Ash Wednesday and Good Friday, two days which are non-obligatory, also attract a huge crowd of Catholics.
One of the features of Lent you would notice is that the choral arrangement is rather subdued. Apart from this, the music is muted and floral display simplified. Furthermore, we generally try to avoid conducting weddings these days. The question is, why do we submit ourselves to these penitential practices or restrictions? The answer is perhaps clarified by Diana Ross’ famous song: “Do you know where you are going to?”. Where do you think we are going to and how does Lent fit into it? To be clear, Lent is more than 40 days of not eating meat, not going to parties, not eating one’s favourite dish or any of the self-denials, self-deprivations you can come up with. Instead, these rigours of Lent are tied to salvation. God intends our salvation as we hear in the second reading—so by confessing with our lips, we are saved. But, salvation is not the end. What are we saved for? There is more to salvation and our Lenten practices are designed to keep us disciplined with our eyes focused on the finishing line: heaven.
Indeed, unless we know where we are going, then Lent will not make sense and penitential practices will remain as empty rituals we go through annually. To have a destination, it presumes that we have also a starting point. The Gospel unfolds for us where we have come from and to where we are heading. We read of how Jesus after the baptism was led by the Holy Spirit through the wilderness, being tempted there by the devil for forty days. What we do not hear in this Sunday’s passage is how after His baptism, a voice was heard: “You are my beloved Son. In you, I am well pleased”—a voice which establishes the provenance/pedigree of Jesus—where He came from. Like Jesus, we too have come from God and through baptism, we have become beloved of the Father, brothers and sisters of Jesus and Like Him, we are going back to the Father. In the context of this journey home, the Devil tempted Jesus to self-reliance, power and self-interest—in other words, the Devil wants Him to forget where He came from and where He is going. In overcoming the Devil, Jesus reversed the sins of Adam in Paradise and Israel in the desert by establishing complete trust in His Father. He never lost sight of heaven.
If heaven is our destination, then temptations are to be expected—as suggested by the Gospel’s ending—the Devil returning at the opportune time. He will do his utmost best to make us forget our destination. An important question is, “Are we convinced that heaven is our destination?”. Do we want it in the first place or are we so enamoured by our capabilities in transforming the world that heaven is almost redundant? Let us give an example of how irrelevant heaven is. Gandhi had a quote pertinent for our consideration. “There is enough on earth for everybody’s need but not enough for everybody’s greed”. Let us say that greed can be regulated in the sense that we are able to control it through legislation. In fact, an opinion editorial piece in the New York Times suggested the banning of billionaires as a possible means of balancing our tech-driven inequality.[1] Absence of greed, what is to prevent mankind from producing enough food for to fulfil everyone’s need? Indeed, mankind has come a long way in terms of food production where technology can do so much more with so little. Given our technological prowess, it would be spitting into the face of God if we did not attempt to solve the hunger problem.
If everyone’s hunger is assuaged or satisfied, what is that condition called? Without hunger, without strife and without hatred can this be heaven? Jesus was tempted by the Devil to believe that when all needs were satisfied, that would be heaven. If He were to possess absolute power so that He could kick the Romans out, that would be heaven for the Jews. If He were acclaimed a superstar, since jumping off the parapet would be a public performance. Celebrity status would be heaven. The truth is, no matter how perfect life is, still it is not heaven because everything we know of this side of death is infused or soaked through with temporality—everything will pass, for nothing can escape the corruption of time. Heaven does not exist here. The original word to describe this condition is utopia—which literally means nowhere—as in no such place exists. Interestingly, our current understanding of the word utopia is exactly the opposite as it prescribes the possibility of a “perfect” place. The numerous attempts to create heaven on earth (utopia) highlight that mankind has consistently succumbed to the temptation to settle for less and to confuse earth for heaven.
Why? It is not our disbelief in heaven as our notion of heaven has become so vague that there might as well not be. When Mariah Carey and Boyz to Men sang “One Sweet Day”—it appears that life here does not matter at all because one sweet day, willy-nilly, we will all be heaven. A seemingly merciful idea of heaven that admits all, where it does not matter how one had lived his life renders heaven somewhat worthless. When a prize is obtained through no effort on our part, it will not be something we appreciate. Like the free Tupperware container you get from buying detergent—you pack food for a potluck and it matters not if the contains returns to you. Or, your break the free plate from the purchase of two tubes of toothpaste. It does not bother you.
The challenge of Lent is therefore to clarify for ourselves what sort of heaven we believe in and what steps we are taking to get there. Scripture is replete with many imageries of heaven. As Saint Paul in the letter to the Corinthian describes: “We know that when the earthly tent in which we dwell is destroyed, we have a dwelling provided for us by God, a dwelling in the heavens, not made by hands but to last forever” (2nd Corinthians 5:1). This is the beatific vision promised to us—to see God face to face without any mediation. But, what is perhaps closer to our reality is that heaven can wait as suggested by the eponymous movie starring Warren Beatty—expressing the same reticence when St Augustine prayed, “Lord, make me chaste, but not yet”. Fortunately, this aspiration of the son of so many tears, was expressed at a time when he was not fully converted.
Fully turned to Christ, St Augustine, like so many of our saints are our celestial compasses. They all live for heaven like St Paul in the Letter to the Philippians who “yearned to be freed from this life and to be with Christ, for that is the far better thing” (Ph 1:23). Our lack of enthusiasm is understandable. Earthly life is so much more excitable and exhilarating. Our pleasurable world promises us a lifetime of adrenalin rushes. Even our Mass is supposed to be more animated, the homily impressive and the singing rousing. In short uplifting. It does not help that caricatures of heaven abound and each of them portraying a lifeless kind of heaven—floating on white clouds, dressed in white gowns and doing nothing the whole day whilst aimlessly plucking the harp.
According to Archbishop Fulton Sheen the proper appreciation heaven must be understood in the mystery of the Blessed Trinity: “It is not a place where there is the mere vocal repetition of alleluias or the monotonous fingering of harps. Instead, heaven is where we find the fullness of all the fine things we enjoy on this earth. Heaven is where we find in its plenitude those things which slake the thirst of hearts, satisfy the hunger of starving minds, and give rest to unrequited love. Heaven is the communion with perfect Life, perfect Truth, and perfect Love” (The Divine Romance). In short, the fullness of life you have here pales in comparison to heaven.
The deprivations of Lent are meant to instil a perspective proper to deepest longings of the human heart. We deny ourselves so that we can appreciate better where we are intended for—the perfect communion of life and love with the Blessed Trinity, with Mary, all the angels and saints. Otherwise, Christ coming to us makes no sense at all. He saved us from death eternal so that we might enjoy life everlasting with Him. If you know that, God be praised. Carry on living for heaven. But, if like St Augustine before his total conversion, you find yourself not fully convinced by it, then pray that God will increase your hunger for heaven.
Mind you, all temptations you face are nothing but attempts by the Devil to thwart your desire for heaven. Lent would not be Lent if there were no allurements. Through lies, deception and pride, in other words, capitalising on your weaknesses, the Devil promises various forms of counterfeit heavens as fulfilling you, albeit temporarily. If you intend on taking the road less travelled, that is when you will feel even more acutely the seductions. Jesus Himself sweated blood in Gethsemane as He resisted the Devil's baiting. Do not be fooled because the nature of temptations is that it will always make you feel as if God were far and He has abandoned you. Realise that this itself is a suggestion from the Devil because the contrary is true. God is near for He accompanies you because you are His beloved. Hold firm. Trust in the Lord.
[1] According to the author, “A billion dollars is wildly more than anyone needs, even accounting for life’s most excessive lavishes. It’s far more than anyone might reasonably claim to deserve, however much he believes he has contributed to society”.
