Homily Notes, 02-14-2021 - Quinquesgesma Sunday

 02-14-2021
Quinquesgesma Sunday

Quinquagesima means "fiftieth" in Latin.  This is 50 days before Easter; the Sunday before Ash Wednesday.  This holy day was traditionally part of a pre-Lenten countdown to help the faithful prepare for Lent.  The revisions of the liturgical calendar after Vatican II eliminated this pre-Lenten season.

St. Paul the Apostle by Claude Vignon

"If I have not charity, I am nothing."

The church is truly a mother when she prepares us for Lent.  Lent is one of the most important times of the year because Easter is the most important feast.  It is so important that we have these three Sundays leading up to Lent.  These three Sundays help us prepare to have a good Lent, and how we use them will determine if we have a good Lent or not.

First Sunday we hear: Training is difficult and it takes work.  It's hard work to earn the crown.  The crown that we will win is an eternal crown: Heaven.

Second Sunday we hear: a warning. Life is a race, striving toward Heaven, but be careful not to fall into pride regarding the suffering and penance that you endure.  It's only possible for us to suffer through God's grace.

Third Sunday we hear: the key to our entire Lent is charity.  If we don't have charity then the penance we do during Lent is worthless.  Charity is the virtue through which we love God above all else. We show Him that we love Him through our daily actions, doing everything out of love for God.

Lent is a time of penance.  We need penance to detach ourselves from the things of the earth so that we can attach ourselves to God.  But penance is useless if we don't do it with charity.  We have to do it out of love of God.  Even if we give all to the poor and give up our body to death, it's useless without charity.

We need to do penance, and penance is difficult.  It makes our days harder.  As we suffer from fasting, it's harder to be patient and accomplish our tasks.  These daily duties are our most important thing during Lent.  As our daily tasks get more difficult to ensure, these simple actions become greater sources of grace.

Don't forget why you are on earth and why you do penance: your goal is Heaven.  It is not easy.  But your reward is not an earthly reward. Athletes put so much work into becoming an Olympian, spending a whole life time to earn a gold medal.  What effort do we make to earn Heaven?

We have to do difficult penance and persevere in that penance in order to reach our goal.  Watch out for traps like pride.  If we think our penances are better than others or that we are better because we do more penance, then our penance becomes useless.  We can do penance for the wrong reasons.  We really have nothing to brag about; others have suffered more than us.

Don't forget about charity: never lose charity.  Charity is the beginning of heaven on earth; we see and know God partly here on earth.  Never lose the spirit of charity that makes each action done out of love for God.

Begin Lent by choosing a penance that will root out your faults and help you grow in virtue and grace.

Examine the epistles from the last 3 Sundays.  Are you really following after your goal, or are you falling into the trap of pride?  Are you really living in charity?  Are your penances actually beneficial to you?  Don't just punish your body, but purify your soul.  Make the effort to prepare well for Lent.  See your faults and failings so you can choose penances that will really root them out and seek to profit from it not for 40 days but for your whole life.