Lent: Mercy to Pure Light

Lenten reflections may be discovered in many facets of our spiritual life – meditations upon the Stations of the Cross, prayer and fasting, corporal and spiritual works of mercy, reading Holy Scriptures, the writings of saints or the church, frequently receiving the sacraments of reconciliation and the Eucharist, attending lectures that promote spiritual growth, etc…
Literary works such as Dante Alighieri’s Divine Comedy provide a realistic, human, and deeply devotional avenue of reflection. This epic poem is a book of travel – the journey of a soul from the depths of the Inferno (a hell of our own making), through the cleansing of Purgatory into the light of Heaven (Paradiso). Dante’s journey through purgatory resembles our movements through the Lenten season:
"I threw myself devoutly at his holy feet,/ asking him to open out of mercy;/ but first I beat three times upon my breast./ Upon my forehead, he traced seven P's/ with his sword's point and said: 'When you have entered within, take care to wash away these wounds.'/ Ashes, or dry earth that has just been quarried,/ would share one color with his robe,/ and from beneath that robe he drew two keys;/ the one was made of gold, the other was of silver;/ first with the white, then with the yellow key,/ he plied the gate so as to satisfy me” (Purgatory. Canto IX).
Our Lenten journey, when combined with the sacramental grace of reconciliation, the repentance and purging of our sins, is similar to that experience of throwing ourselves devoutly at Christ’s holy feet, and asking him out of mercy to open the way to salvation. We long for the light of God’s grace and purest love. We knock, we seek, we implore God’s mercy and forgiveness – the Catholic Church opens the door and welcomes us in. “The Light is On” is the annual initiative of the Arlington Diocese to invite Catholics in the greater DC metro region, especially those who have been away from the Church or the sacrament, to experience God’s mercy and forgiveness through the Sacrament of Reconciliation. All Catholic churches in the Archdiocese of Washington and Diocese of Arlington will be open on Wednesday evenings for Confession and quiet prayer. (thelightison.org)
To share in God’s Divine light, love, and eternal happiness is the purpose for which we were born. Let us continue our ascent toward Paradiso by taking advantage of the light – the Light is On.
“With voice and gesture of a perfect leader/She recommended: ‘We from the greatest body/Have issued to the heaven that is pure light,/Light intellectual replete with love/Love of true good replete with ecstasy/Ecstasy that transcendeth every sweetness” (Paradiso, Canto XXX).
For more information see: http://www.thelightison.org/