Lent Is a ‘Tithe’ for our Love for GodRead Time 9 min

First Sunday of Lent

Deuteronomy 26: 4-10

Romans 10: 8-13

Luke 4: 1-13

I think many of us know that the word Catholic means universal. But often, we can limit the universality of the Church to geography. And while it is incredible to consider the rich diversity of the Catholic Church in culture and language throughout the world (and in our own archdiocese no less), it is even more amazing to consider that the universality of the Church extends even to time. Our faith is the same as those who have gone before us, the saints. By our faith we are connected to the saints presently by their intercession in heaven. But also, we are connected to them by their history. As members of the Catholic Church, we are united to the communion of saints who pray for us and leave us examples to imitate.

The saints who have gone before us can lift us out of our present moment and help us to consider the realities of our faith with a fresh perspective. One such saint who has helped me to appreciate the first Sunday of Lent, and the spiritual significance of the entire season, is St. Gregory the Great.

St. Gregory the Great was pope from 590-604. His life is remarkable, and it contains all the elements of a real adventure. He ministered during a time marked with marauding armies bent on destroying Rome, outbreaks of plague ravaging his people, and increasing tension between a crumbling Rome and an ascending Constantinople. But even though he lived in a time long ago, his appreciation for the season of Lent can resonate with us due to his fresh perspective.

I think we realize the liturgical seasons have matured through history. It is no different when we consider how we practice Lent and how St. Gregory did. Today, and by a long tradition, we include the four days of Ash Wednesday through Saturday so that Lent reaches its full tally of 40 days. (For those doing the math at home, Sundays are not “counted” in the tally, but that is for another article.)

This was not necessarily the case for St. Gregory, however, as we will see. But despite some of the ambiguity, St. Gregory could see an important spiritual principal when it comes to the observance of Lent. And his perspective, though separated from us by centuries, can grant clarity to our own appreciation of this sacred season.

In one of his homilies during Lent, St. Gregory references the “36 days” of the Lenten fast. That might sound strange to us. Lent is supposed to be 40 days long, no? How did he get 36 days?

During his homily, he reminded his congregation that the six weeks of the fast had just begun. And after subtracting the six Sundays, they were left with 36 days until Easter, i.e. six weeks of six days. It appears at the time there were no additional days beginning with Ash Wednesday. But the slight discrepancy between the 40 days of Jesus’ fast and the 36 of his own did not trouble St. Gregory. Instead, St. Gregory drilled down on this point.

In his preaching, St. Gregory called to mind that 36 days is about as close to one-tenth of the calendar year as you will get. Hence, the 36 days were a reminder that Lent was meant as a tithe, as an offering, to God. It is a connection that is hard to miss with 36 days but easily overlooked with 40 days. Thanks to the perspective of St. Gregory, we too can appreciate this aspect of Lent.

This spiritual principle can often be lost on us. Many of us approach Lent with an attitude of how we improve ourselves by being kinder and more prayerful (and maybe a few pounds lighter). But St. Gregory reminds us that Lent is an opportunity to set aside a tenth of our year, a tithe of our time, out of love and reverence for God. Thus, the desert of our Lenten observances is meant to purify us of our disordered attachments so that, emerging from the desert into the promised land of Easter, we can love God with our whole heart, mind and strength, and our neighbor as ourselves.

Although his counting of the days of Lent is a little different than ours, St. Gregory’s insight was not off point. In fact, our liturgy today echoes the aspect of tithing and offering of first fruits to God in our first reading. There, we hear from Deuteronomy 26:4-10. The passage describes how individuals are to bring a basket of the first fruits of the land to the priest and then offer a prayer recalling how God delivered them from slavery in Egypt. This instruction was meant for the Israelites after they had been freed from slavery and passed through the desert. The first fruits they were commanded to offer were to be the very first gleanings of the harvest in the Promised Land.

For Christians, the new Promised Land is heaven. And that reality was opened for us through Jesus’ life, Death and Resurrection. We will celebrate that sacred mystery soon. But first, we must generously offer the Lord this season of our prayer, fasting and almsgiving. Through the intercession of St. Gregory the Great, whose example teaches us and who intercedes for us, may we generously offer the Lord this sacred time as a tithe done out of love for him.