The Asbury Revival and the Long Game of Faith

An excellent analysis of the "Asbury Revival" from a Roman Catholic writer, and with a wonderful Lenten application.  The concluding paragraphs:

"The infectious joy of the Asbury Revival is, for all that, a good reminder to Catholics as we begin our long Lenten journey. Lent—for all its severe associations—is rooted in the brightness of springtime. The word “Lent” is etymologically related to the word “lengthen,” referring to the lengthening of days as the world shakes off wintry darkness and turns to the eastern, or Easter, sky. In spring, we enjoy a lengthening of days, increasing light, and an unveiling, or even remaking, of the world. A revival.

But Lent, of course, is a time of penance and self-examination, and it should be viewed as an awakening out of hibernation into the dawn of the world and the Word. Everyone is called to be made anew into the comprehension and participation of the creation and Resurrection—which is something to rejoice and be glad about. But that reality and the feelings it elicits only come with the grime and grit of the road.

As with anything that gives enjoyment—as opposed to mere pleasure—effort is required: a passage, a pilgrimage. Pilgrimages, though difficult, are merry. One of the reasons for this is the Chaucerian joke that pilgrimages point out the wide spectrum of humanity that makes up the Church: saints, sinners, and middle-of-the-roaders, all bumbling and stumbling their way toward the common goal, toward eternity. Like the pilgrims we all are, Lent calls for the asceticism of the Way and bids us, challenges us, to rejoice in it—to find happiness in holiness: on earth as it is in Heaven.

The teachings of Christ indicate that Lent must not be a time to elicit the praise of men for external mortification or exhibition. Lent is a time to earn the silent reward of God—and that reward does give joy. Though we are required to suffer through Lent, so, too, should we laugh through Lent to bear witness to the love of God. There is no such thing as a sad saint. It is in suffering that the human soul finds the deepest spring of contentment. The paradox of this cheerfulness, this happiness that is holiness, is nothing to hide.

God gives the gift of joy to share, and Lent is the time of all times to share, to give, and to make other people happy in both the levity and the gravity of faith. Though the Lenten journey is one that should be kept between the penitent and his God, this does not mean that the gladness that flows from reconciliation cannot shake the world like a revival meeting. Though you keep your left hand from knowing what your right hand is doing, do let your neighbor know that you are happy.

It would be wonderful if Catholics could claim the kind of joyful effect that has flowed from the Asbury Revival, and many are doing what they can and must to claim just that, even if it doesn’t make it on Tucker. But the whole point of the Catholic life and the Catholic Faith is the long game, not the flash in the pan. And this is the sooty essence of Lent: to happily renew faith out of the ashes and recover newness of life—to lengthen our days with light together with the days of our brothers and sisters unto eternal life."