Promoting Blood Donation as a Lenten Observance

God’s gift of life to humankind and life’s fullness through holiness, and God’s love for humanity according to Christian faith and revelation, are events irrevocably accomplished in the precious blood of Jesus. The significance of the blood of Christ and the symbol which formed the basis of the rituals and worship of the Israelites, the people of God, is seen in the letter to the Hebrews: “In fact, the law requires that nearly everything be cleansed with blood, and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness” (9:22). In the same vein, the blood significance for the Church as the people of the New Covenant is succinctly depicted in the Acts of the Apostles: “….the church of God, which he bought with his own blood” (20:28).

The Holy Lenten Season, especially the Holy Week, makes us deeply connect with and reflect upon the passion of Christ – his blood being poured out for the life of the world. While visiting our diocesan hospital, an impromptu talk about a blood check-up of a companion priest and his desire to donate blood prompted me to think about the symbolic significance of BLOOD DONATION during the season of Lent or the Holy Week. Blood donation as a life-giving and life-promoting merciful gesture needs to be promoted in the Church and by the Church, prompted by the redemptive blood shedding of Jesus.

The local church at the diocesan level, with its core units of parish and mission centres, needs to cultivate this awareness of blood donation and promote it as a special Lenten observance as a specific Christian witness and culture.

The Easter joy of the fullness of life achieved in the grace of the resurrection of Christ is essentially wedlocked to His blood shedding on the cross. This is the core truth that the people of other faiths and cultures recognise and acknowledge the significance of Good Friday as a day precious to Christians and humanity.

Like the days of fasting and prayer the Church declares for a common cause or for a matter of urgency, so too a day or days set apart for blood donation as a Lenten observance every year can serve as a powerful witness to the blood “given” by Christ on the cross for the healing and life of humanity. Definitely, for the new generation and generations to come, such a gesture and commitment will pave the way for creating a Christian culture amidst situations where Christian faith is opposed or is eroding by itself under the factors of militant secularism propelled by postmodernism and the post-truth era.

Both Christians and the Church need to look for new ways of practising the truth of the Cross, viz., the sacrificial blood of Christ, by constantly creating forums of witness. The blood of Christ shed in love is the core of the Christian vision of life and worship. In the words of Pope Pius XII, “To the unbloody gift of Himself, under the appearance of bread and wine, Our Saviour, Jesus Christ, wished, as a special proof of His intimate and infinite love, to add the bloody Sacrifice of the Cross” (Encyclical Haurietis Aquas, On the Sacred Heart, 1956).

By Fr. (Dr.) Santhosh Sebastian Cheruvally