To the Band of Brothers: March 1, 2021

Welcome to March and to the second full week of Lent. We are exactly 10 days into Lent (not including Sundays) and yesterday celebrated the second Sunday of this very important liturgical time. If you do the math, there are 30 days left of fasting, abstinence, and almsgiving (not including Sundays). That means, 30 days left of doing without whatever you gave up, five Fridays of eating tuna and cheese pizza, and four Sundays of mass without singing the gloria or alleluia before the gospel. It also means you have a good amount of time left to prepare for a good and thorough confession.

 

My calculations of course are based on the well-known fact that Lent lasts for 40 days. Hopefully, as a student of Belen, your theology teachers have reminded you of the significance of that number. It is very biblical. There are a whole series of events in sacred scriptures, both in the Old and New Testaments, that use the number to emphasize important lessons.

 

Here are some of the major examples. In the book of Genesis, the great flood that Noah and his ark survived lasted 40 days and forty nights. In Exodus, Moses fasted 40 days and 40 nights on the mountain to prepare himself to receive the Ten Commandments. He also spent the same amount of time up there receiving them. The same book tells us the Jews roamed the desert for 40 days fleeing the Egyptians before entering the Promised Land. This of course was before GPS. Then it would have actually taken them a weekend.

 

The New Testament also has the number as part of its stories. Jesus spent 40 days and nights fasting in the desert and being tempted by the devil in order to prepare for his public ministry. Much like Luke Skywalker in the Dagobah swamps as he trained with Yoda to face his nemesis Darth Vader, Jesus trained to take on the sin of the world. He also spent 40 days with his disciples after his resurrection preparing them to set the world on fire before ascending into heaven.

 

Interestingly enough, the number is also prevalent in secular society and has some interesting appearances. Did you know forty is the only number in the English language whose letters appear in alphabetical order? Did you know that 40 below is the only temperature that is the same in both Fahrenheit and Celsius? Did you know that during the bubonic plague in Europe ships would be isolated for 40 days in the harbor before passengers were allowed to get off? The Italian word for 40 is quaranta and it is where we get the word quarantine from. Also, typical pregnancies actually last 40 weeks, not nine months. And, last and maybe least, it took chemists 40 attempts to develop a spray that helps lubricate rusty joints. It’s called WD-40.

 

So, now that you have had your fill of the number 40, you are better prepared to continue celebrating Lent. Never let it be said you are unaware of the significance of your religious practices. You are perfectly in line with the great heroes of the Bible as you continue to make your 40-day trek towards Easter. You are also perfectly in line with all that useless, yet curious, information about the great number that has been handed down for generations. Keep up the great work and enjoy these 30 days that are left. I wonder if that number means anything?

 

Auspice Maria