Engaging Lent with Easter Joy

Lent—with its intensified practices of prayer, self-denial, and almsgiving—provides us with the opportunity to “wash away the negligence of other times.” But it is not a time to be dour and downcast. As Christians, we must keep in mind that Jesus was raised once and for all. St. Benedict reflects this point of view when he writes that while engaging in our Lenten practices, we should “look forward to holy Easter with joy and spiritual longing” and “with the joy of the Holy Spirit.” The ageless w