Lent 2020 reflection

"This is the Lentiest Lent I have ever Lented"

I smirked when I saw the sentence above shared on my facebook newsfeed around one or two weeks ago. Ironically now that Lent is almost over, I think that statement summarised my 2020 Lenten experience accurately. I think I have mentioned this a few times previously but it is a miracle that I am able to fully follow through with what I promised for this Lent: no fast food, no junk food, no bubble tea, no food delivery for dinner / fruits for dinner, and daily Rosary. These will not be possible if not because of the COVID-19 situation so at least there is something positive that comes from it. I am happy that I lost 6kg. At times I felt that perhaps diet was my main motivation rather than the Lenten fasting and penance. However seeing my own history, it is clear that Lent was the bigger reason for this success. After all, I have been trying to lose weight perpetually and it never succeeded until now.

Church closure also brought about miracles. Thanks to the online services, I 'attended' more Masses than what I would normally attend. I even watched Maundy Thursday Mass and it was really a blessing for me. There are still few grudges that I am holding on with my previous workplace (and the people involved) as well as my parents. The theme of forgiveness came up again and I felt to have moved at least one or two steps closer to fully letting go.

The Mass streaming started at 8pm but I only started at past 1030pm. When I logged on, it was an adoration until midnight and I was thinking after the Adoration on Tuesday that I only lasted for 25 minutes, there was no way I would survive until midnight. The Mass was longer than usual and it was close to midnight when I finished with the Mass. Hence I actually managed to stay on until midnight hahaha... Maundy Thursday is always a definite skip for me normally so 'attending' it online is a good reminder of the special occasion to mark the only time in Church calendar that the churches will have their tabernacles emptied and lights off to signify Jesus' absence on Good Friday.

If I have the choice, I will skip Stations of the Cross. Usually I attend Stations of the Cross just to 'reserve' seat for the Good Friday service as usually they are back-to-back. I had the golden opportunity to just watch the service but I decided to watch both.

This experience is a good illustration of a nice story forwarded to me in Whatsapp a few weeks ago. The story is called Job - Act 2 and it goes:

There was a day that Satan came before the Lord, and the Lord said to Satan, “From where have you come?” Satan answered the Lord and said, “From going to and fro on the earth, and from walking up and down on it.”  And the Lord said to Satan, “Have you considered my church, how they gather every Sunday, and praise and worship My Holy Name.  They do this year in and year out, every Sunday morning, all over the world.  From the time the sun rises in the east until the sun sets in the west, My Name gets glorified, like a wave washing over all the earth.”

Then Satan answered the Lord and said, “Have you not blessed them with health and wealth and prosperity, with which they have built beautiful church buildings, and filled it with amazing technology?  Have You not blessed them with all manner of talents that they bring together in these beautiful churches they built and worship You with beautiful music that appeals to their senses?”

“But stretch out Your hand, and take all that from them, strike them down with a plague or even just the fear of a plague, and they will go quiet and worship You no more.  This wave of worship, running from the east of the earth to the west, every Sunday morning will stop, and all will go quiet.  Who will worship You then?  Who will still make Your Name great?”

And the Lord said to Satan, “They are in your hand.”  So Satan unleashed a deadly virus upon the earth, and soon churches closed all over the world.  Everyone, Christians and gentiles hunkered down in their homes, and everything went quiet… and Satan was standing there, watching, waiting, all the angels were standing in heaven, watching, waiting and God was standing there, watching, waiting… as a great silence fell over all the heavens and all the earth.

Then one angel called out; “Listen…!”, and another called out; “I hear it too… it’s coming from the east”.  In a small living room, in a locked up house, came the sound of a piano being played, and a voice singing;

“Holy, holy, holy,

Though the darkness hide Thee,

Though the eye of sinful man thy glory may not see,

Only Thou art holy; there is none beside Thee, Perfect in power, in love, and purity!”

And another angel called out “Listen, over there, in the west!” And the sound of a guitar, coming from a bedroom could be heard with a voice singing;

“All hail King Jesus, All hail Emmanuel!

Kind of king, Lord of lords, Bright Morning Star!

And for all eternity, I’ll sing Your praises,

And will reign with You, throughout eternity”

And slowly, from all directions on the earth, the sound of instruments and voices could be heard, louder and louder, until it became a symphony of worship, rising up to heaven.  A cacophony of song, praising God, declaring His greatness, thanking Him for His grace, His mercy, His forgiveness. Songs of dedication and declaration, songs of encouragement, songs filled with the joy and peace that can only come from God, sung by thousands of men and woman, young and old, wherever they were, accompanied by whatever means they had.

And God turned to Satan and said; “Did you notice… today is Tuesday!  Now, My church, having been freed from all the business that filled their lives, worships Me every day of the week, for they still know that ‘I Am’!  The wave of worship that runs from sunrise in the east until sunset in the west now circles the earth, every day, as the earth circles the sun.”

And all of heaven fell down on their faces and worshipped God, calling out “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts; the whole earth is full of His Glory!”.  And Satan turned and walked away, defeated as he has been since the day of Calvary.

Not sure if I will watch Easter Vigil and Easter Sunday Mass because normally I will only attend either or but let see how it goes tomorrow.