Why Lent is more than fasting and abstinence

Last Wednesday many Christians of different age brackets in Uganda could be seen with a mark of the cross on their foreheads. This, however was not new or strange but signified something important as far as Christianity is concerned. It marked the start of Lent which is a season ushered in by what is referred to as Ash Wednesday. 

Lent, in most Christian churches is a period of penitential preparation for Easter and lasts 40 days in imitation of Jesus Christ’s fasting in the wilderness before he began his public ministry.

In Uganda and elsewhere in the Christian world, believers are expected to take Lent  seriously by practising self-control and giving alms. In other words, they are called not only to abstain from luxuries during Lent but to a true inner conversion of heart as they seek to follow Christ’s will more faithfully. Because of this, no one should be surprised to observe a complete change of behaviour in some neighbours, friends or workmates.

SEE PICTURES: Lent season starts

Today’s Christians to an extent, seem to be borrowing a leaf from what the early Christian Church taught by calling upon believers to abstain from things such as alcohol and meat and only feed on bread, vegetables, salt and water during Lent. Because of this during the Lent season many Christians tend to give up what they like most. 

Self-denial
Anectus Sseruwagi,a timber dealer in the city outskirts of Ndeeba in Rubaga Division, refers to  Lent as the season  that usually brings him closer to God and that during this period he forgets all about one of the things he treasures most in life and this being whisky. 

“Throughout the Lent season I don’t take even a drop let alone being seen anywhere near a bar. My wife and children usually like this because after work I go back home very early in the evening,” Sseruwagi says.  

He prays unceasingly and usually ends up getting what he prays for. He advises other Christians to discover it by giving it a try. By abstaining from alcohol during Lent Sseruwagi reminds me of past years when a workmate at Daily Monitor who seemed to have had an unconditional love for the bottle abstained from drinking during the 40 days of Lent year after year.

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Charles Mugerwa, another staunch Catholic in Kyengera, always wears a rosary and says he enjoys mchomo (roasted meat) above anything else in life, with one of his most visited places being a pork joint somewhere in the area.

“During Lent  I don’t only abstain from meat on Ash Wednesday and during Fridays like we are required to do but throughout the period. Every Lent I have had to make this sacrifice in memory of Jesus Christ who decided to die in order to save mankind including me.” 

By doing so he believes to be following in the footsteps of Christ who gave up a lot of good things during the 40 days he spent fasting in the desert. 

For Rosie Amodoi, a journalist, Lent is not only a season to reflect on her  life choices and review her Christian values but she goes ahead to deny herself some of the things that she enjoys. 

“For example, every Lent, I cut out chicken from my diet – which I love  a lot, pork, alcohol and other things.

So, most of my friends wonder how I do it, but the Catholic faith teaches us to sacrifice in this time and this for me is a test of my faith. To fully feel the impact and give the season meaning, I increase my offertory in church, I share a portion of what I save during Lent with the needy and sometimes I go the extra mile and face temptation by preparing chicken and carrying it to a friend’s house or just prepare the meal for my neighbours,” says Amodoi.

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She adds that it is interesting how during Lent, she receives numerous invites to barbecues.
“There was a time I was invited to a party at The Carnival Restaurant, Naguru on a Friday and if you know this place and how Fridays are observed by Catholics during Lent, you will understand the pain. A friend I was fasting with was  so hungry and they had no fish on the menu. He could not fight the temptation and he gave in. I did not blame him. As for me, I bore it  and just waited for my chips and salad,” she recalls.

Someone will ask why deny yourself such pleasures and be extra ‘nunnery’ during Lent and yet return to the same lifestyle after?

“To them I say, it is about training your spirit to fight temptation just as Jesus did during the 40 days he spent in the desert. It is tough but there is no doubt that after Lent, your spirit feels renewed,” she explains. 
She urges Christians to use this period to ,”renew our spirits as we reflect on the sacrifices Jesus made and the temptations he faced while in the wilderness. If you have chosen to give up something, do not use it as a weight-loss period; make it count through alms giving, forgiving and reconciliation,” she adds.

A one Harriet Namakula (not real name), a resident of Ben Kiwanuka Zone in Rubaga Division talks of an unusual way of abstinence in Lent. She says in Lent, she strictly abstains from sexual relations. 
“This is something I have observed for the last four years and luckily, my partner has been so understanding and has come to accept it,” she says. 

Full time practice
Not every Christian however, believes in fasting or abstinence from this or that in Lent. In contrast to what many Christians believe, Emily Nafula an accountant in the city suburbs of Mengo, says Lent should not be restricted to fasting or abstaining from good things but rather focus on alms giving and coming to the rescue of the poor in our societies.   

“I see no reason for abstaining from so many things during Lent and at the same time just look on when the needy in my area are suffering. Because of this I sometimes help those in need in whatever way possible and I live my normal life,” she stresses. 

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The Rev Gregory Byamukama of St Paul’s Mulago Church of Uganda, says the problem with most believers is they heighten their faith in these 40 days and forget that this should be done all the time.

“Being kind, sharing, devotion to God and all the gestures done during lent should not be a one-time thing. It is an ongoing practice that keeps the spirit strong in order for one to fight sin,” The Rev Byamukama says.

“When we get it all wrong during other days and we stumble and fall, we look up to this period to repent collectively, seek God for spiritual strengthening for the rest of the days.

“However, when Lent is over, Christians should not forget to continue all these gestures and being exemplary all the way to not only improve their lives, but also the people around them,” he cautions.

The Rev Fr Anthony Musuubire, the parish priest of Kitagobwa Catholic Parish in Wakiso District, says in the Catholic Church, Lent is guided by three major pillars of praying, fasting and alms giving. He urges Christians to devote more time to praying privately and as families, thus imitating the life of Jesus Christ.

About fasting, Fr Musuubire says it should mainly be for body modification and urged Christians to train their bodies so as not to make them fall into temptation. He cited an example of St Francis of Assisi who used to rub his body on the thorns of roses.

 “Many mistake fasting to be saving or abstaining from what they like most. It is rather better to put such things in a common pool and give them to the needy,” says Fr Musuubire.   

About alms giving, Fr Musuubire advises Christians to give away what they like most rather than what they do not need. 

“You see someone opening his wardrobe and gets out an old pair of trousers he is no longer wear and gives it out, sparing the good looking one.  What a pity!”   

Facts and figures about lent
The date of Lent may depend on the calendar used by a particular church such as the revised Gregorian calendar typically used by Catholic, Protestant or Easter Orthodox churches. 

Various Christian denominations calculate the 40  days of Lent differently depending on how the date of Easter is calculated but also on which day Lent is understood to begin and end.

ALSO READ: Fewer Catholics in Europe, more in Africa, Americas

In 1966 St. Pope Paul VI reduced the obligation of fasting days from all 40 days of lent to Ash Wednesday and Good Friday .

Although Lent may formally end on Holy Thursday, fasting practices continue until Holy Saturday.
In Protestant and Western Orthodox churches (Anglicans, Lutheran Methodist and Presbyterian churches) the season of Lent lasts from Ash Wednesday to the evening of Holy Thursday.

In the Eastern Orthodox and Byzantine rites Lent is the most important fasting season in the church year referred to as 40 days of Great Lent that begins on clean Monday also known as “Pure Monday.”

Comments about lent...

Cardinal Emmanuel Wamala: During the 1990s ,  the former Archbishop of Kampala,  Emmanuel Cardinal Wamala while celebrating  mass at Rubaga Cathedral during a Lent allowed Christians having big functions on Fridays to eat meat and not bother coming to him for permission as it was required by the Catholic Church.
Pope Paul VI: In 1966 St. Pope Paul VI advised Catholics to replace abstinence and fasting with other forms of penitence such as charity.

John Chrysostom: St. John Chrysostom once wrote , “to fail to share our own wealth with the poor is theft from the poor and deprivation of their means of life; we do not possess our own wealth but theirs.”   

Staying the course...Keeping the spirit

Continuously repent because Christians tend to fall short of God’s glory all the time. Repenting keeps one on track with their spiritual life.

Reading the bible and other gospel books works as food for the soul. Once the soul is strong, the body and mind are not as gullible to sin.

Lent is a time to open our hearts a wider and understand our Lord a little deeper. When the time He was crucified and He rose from the dead comes, we are ready for the full blessings because we have been preparing with Him for the 40 days of fasting and praying and observing kindness. Rev Geofrey Byamukama, St Paul’s Church of Uganda Mulago- Additional information by Promise Twinamukye