Of Birth and Death

Sometimes we oversimplify both seasons by saying that Advent is preparation for birth while Lent is preparation for death. On the one hand, this is true: Advent leads to Christ being born, and Easter, to his death. However, the distinction is also not that simple. 

I was 12 years old and in seminary when my mother was pregnant with my little sister. I watched her slow down to the point that walking looked like an uphill task. I was happy that a baby was coming but I was also afraid my mother would die. I recall that every evening while saying the family rosary my father would intone the prayer for safe delivery.  That time was filled with a mixture of two extreme feelings: one was the immediate joy that a baby is about to be born into the world, and the other was a sober reminder of a mother’s mortality. 

Advent is a preparation for hope: God taking the form of a human being. Lent, just like Advent, is about being born anew since the death of Jesus brings about the resurrection (a new creation in God). In both cases, the danger of dying and the happiness of giving birth, or being reborn, arise together simultaneously. Outside the liturgical calendar, the same can be said for our sacraments: Whenever I go to confession I feel the birth of a new person within me. Whenever I say no to sin, I feel the new peace of Christ alive in me. The “newborn” self is always the resurrection of the old self which has passed away.

Of Lent and Advent

These days, I observe how slowly pregnant mothers move and how careful they are; they do not eat or drink anything harmful to the baby. Pregnancy, which brings suffering, is like its own Lent and Advent: at the end of both seasons there is joy.  The fact that Advent is for getting ready for Christ’s birth does not take away some apparent difficulties faced by mothers during the gestation period.  The fact that pregnant women suffer during their pregnancies does not detract from the joy of new life. Similarly, the difficulties and sacrifices we make during Lent do not diminish the joy that comes with the resurrection of Christ.

The goal of these important seasons in our liturgical calendar is to help us prepare our souls for Christ. In Nigeria, I encountered Christ during Advent in a special way when a stranger gave us food to celebrate Christmas during poverty and want. Likewise, during Lent when our home was destroyed by wind and rain, a good neighbor took all of us in for six months. Birth, death, rebirth, and resurrection, are themes present in some way in both seasons.

I have friends and parishioners who have found Jesus during the Advent season because of the beauty of the carols, the sharing of gifts, and the Simbang Gabi Masses of the Filipino tradition. On the other hand, I have people in my life who found Jesus during Lent because of the sacrifices of the Christian community to forgive brothers and sisters and search for peace and justice. This Lent, may we embark on a journey which may require a gestation period of some small sufferings, so that we may experience the joy of rebirth and resurrection anew.