An All Time Thing

 

Learning how Lent never really ends

04/03/2026

John 13:1-15 Before the feast of Passover, Jesus knew that his hour had come to pass from this world to the Father. He loved his own in the world and he loved them to the end. So, during supper, fully aware that the Father had put everything into his power and that he had come from God and was returning to God, he rose from supper and took off his outer garments. He took a towel and tied it around his waist. Then he poured water into a basin and began to wash the disciples’ feet and dry them with the towel around his waist. He came to Simon Peter, who said to him, “Master, are you going to wash my feet?” Jesus answered and said to him, “What I am doing, you do not understand now, but you will understand later.” Peter said to him, “You will never wash my feet.” So when he had washed their feet and put his garments back on and reclined at table again, he said to them, “Do you realize what I have done for you? I have given you a model to follow, so that as I have done for you, you should also do.”

At some point during Holy Week someone always asks me a question that I bet has crossed your mind, too. If Lent technically ends on Holy Thursday, does that mean you still have to keep making your Lenten sacrifices for the next three days? After all, if Lent is over then what need is there for the sacrifices? Have you ever wondered that?

Someone texted me that question last night, and here’s how I

answered her: “It’s true that Lent is over on Holy Thursday. But that doesn’t mean you should go back to enjoying whatever you gave up for Lent. Think about it like this: on Holy Thursday the regular season of Lent is over but the playoffs of the Triduum have now begun. The three days of Triduum are not less Lenten, they are more Lenten. Not a time to slack off, but to bring your A game!”

If you are a fan of college basketball’s March Madness, you know it’s down to the final four teams: Arizona, Michigan, UConn, and Illinois. Now, do you think their coaches said, “Hey, guys, the regular season is over, so for the playoffs, just kick back on the couch, watch Netflix, and stuff your face with Crispy Crème donuts!”? Of course not. It’s time to raise their game to the next level.

In the gospel today, we see Jesus encouraging his apostles, his team, to raise their game as well. In a sense, their regular season is over. That is, Jesus’ three years of teaching and preaching, healing and miracles. And the apostles not only witnessed these things, they actively participated by their own efforts at evangelization. And to one apostle Jesus dedicated extra time and attention because he would be the team captain, St. Peter.

So now that their regular season is over, does Jesus tell them: “Hey, guys, just relax and throw back all those macaroons and martinis you gave up because your Lent is over and it’s party time!”? No, quite the opposite. He humbly washes their feet and instructs them: “I have given you a model to follow, so that as I have done for you, you should do also.” In other words, it’s not time to slack off but rather raise your game to the next level.

In fact, Jesus will deliver one heck of a play-off pep talk in John’s gospel, which last 5 full chapters, from chapters 13-18, and it even eclipses the sprawling Sermon on the Mount in Matthew, which lasted only 3 chapters. Jesus essentially teaches the apostles what Vince Lombardy told his players when he said: “Winning is not a sometime thing; it’s an all time thing. You don’t win once in a while, you don’t do things right once in a while, you do them right all the time.”

In other words, there is a real sense in which the regular season of Lent not only does not end at Holy Thursday – when the playoffs begin – but the season of Lent should continue all year long. Now, don’t misunderstand: of course, we should celebrate Jesus’ resurrection on Easter Sunday, and all the other feasts throughout the liturgical year. But there is a splinter of the cross of Lent we should carry all year long. Why? Because “winning is not a sometime thing; it’s an all time thing.”

I will never forget Scott Hahn saying something that stopped me dead in my tracks. See if you can wrap your mind around this insight. He said: “Jesus did not do anything different when he came to earth to suffer and die on the Cross than what he had been doing for all eternity in heaven. Why not? Because the love of the Trinity that looks and feels like splendor, glory, and majesty in heaven, looks and feels like the crucifixion on earth."

Listen to Coach Lombardy again in the light of that eternity: “You don’t win once in a while you don’t do things right once in a while, you do them right all the time.” You see, Jesus’ washing his disciples’ feet looks lowly and disgusting on earth, but that is what Jesus does eternally in heaven where it shines in splendor and glory and majesty. That is why the second half of John’s gospel which is all about the crucifixion is called “The Book of Glory.” “Winning is not a some time thing, it’s an all time thing,” indeed, it is an eternal thing.

So, what’s the take-home message today? Well, Lent is not simply over on Holy Thursday, nor is it entirely over on Easter Sunday. But in a sense, Lent lasts our whole life, and even beyond this life. You see, Lent is not designed for a few temporary sacrifices that we endure for a few weeks and then say “Yay, back to debauchery!” Rather Lent is designed to change us into better Christians, who pray a little more, who give up a little more, and who love our neighbor a little more.

And doing those practices intensely for 40 days should create holy habits we continue all year long. Why? Because the purpose of Lent is to teach us how to love: to love ourselves (by fasting), to love our neighbor (by almsgiving), and to love our God (by prayer). Because what was true for Jesus will one day be true for us: the loving sacrifice we make on earth will exactly be what we do in heaven, except there our sacrifices will shine in splendor, and glory, and majesty. Because being a Christian is an all time thing.

Praised be Jesus Christ!