Happy Easter to Those Who Screwed Up Lent (And Those Who Didn’t)!

Did your Lent not go as planned? Did you make a lot of resolutions and then mostly fail at them? Or maybe you failed to even make any Lenten resolutions, and sort of wandered your way into Easter. Well, if that sounds like you, St. John Chrysostom has a message for you:

HAPPY EASTER.

I actually want to say a few words to people feeling good about their Lenten journeys and then to people feeling bad about them.

Last night, as we were leaving the Easter Vigil (which was jaw-droppingly beautiful, but went a little shy of 3 hours), my wife joked that we had “earned” some sort of junk food to celebrate. It was especially difficult for my wife to do all the standing and sitting and kneeling right now because she’s very pregnant (yup, this is how we’re announcing!), and there’s definitely a sense of accomplishment to participating in the whole Triduum Liturgy (if you ever get the chance, I really do encourage it!). But this led to us talking about how the beautiful thing about Easter is both that you really can’t “earn” it, and that you really don’t have to.

At the end of the Fifth Reading in the Vigil (did I mention that it’s a long liturgy?), we ask God to “graciously increase the longing of your people, for only at the prompting of your grace do the faithful progress in any kind of virtue.” In other words, Jesus wasn’t joking around when He said, “apart from me you can do nothing” (John 15:5). So if you made any spiritual progress during this Lent, that’s an important word to keep in mind. You really were just receptive to what God wanted to do through you. Why is this important?

• One, it’s a check against pride. I like to blame circumstances for my sins, while giving myself all the credit when things go well. That both downplays my free will (in the first instance), and downplays God’s grace (in the second).
• Two, it’s actually really encouraging. It’s easy to look at myself and say, “I can’t do it, I can’t become the Saint God wants me to be.” And by myself, that’s totally true. But if every gain is really just God working through me and me being receptive and cooperating (and even my cooperation is a grace!), then it doesn’t matter that I’m too little to climb the mountain on my own.
• Three, it is an occasion for praise. We can easily be the lepers who are healed, and don’t think to thank Jesus for it (Luke 17:11-19).

But having said all that, what if you find yourself today saying, “Wait, it’s Easter already? What happened to Lent?” And that’s the fourth and final thing that’s great about remembering that it’s all grace. Since you can’t earn it, you don’t have to wonder, “am I worthy?” (psst, you’re not). A friend of mine (in another great post-Vigil conversation) was talking about how beautiful this Easter homily of St. John Chrysostom’s is. It’s worth reading in whole, but here’s the part I most want to share:

For the Lord is gracious and receives the last even as the first.
He gives rest to him that comes at the eleventh hour,
as well as to him that toiled from the first.
To this one He gives, and upon another He bestows.
He accepts the works as He greets the endeavor.
The deed He honors and the intention He commends.

Let us all enter into the joy of the Lord!
First and last alike receive your reward;
rich and poor, rejoice together!
Sober and slothful, celebrate the day!

You that have kept the fast, and you that have not,
rejoice today for the Table is richly laden!
Feast royally on it, the calf is a fatted one.
Let no one go away hungry. Partake, all, of the cup of faith.
Enjoy all the riches of His goodness!

Let no one grieve at his poverty,
for the universal kingdom has been revealed.
Let no one mourn that he has fallen again and again;
for forgiveness has risen from the grave.
Let no one fear death, for the Death of our Savior has set us free.
He has destroyed it by enduring it.

In other words, this isn’t a time to fall into post-Lenten self-loathing or post-Lenten self-congratulations. This is a time to fall on your knees and thank God for the Resurrection of Jesus. So whether you blew it or nailed it, the message is one and the same: HAPPY EASTER!