The Lenten Nail

I admit it. I stole the idea. Bishop Murphy, Bishop Emeritus of Rockville Centre, used to say, “there was only one homily ever written, it just keeps getting stolen and passed around.” Perhaps he is right, but, as a college student I remember a local pastor who thought up the idea of the Lenten nail. He had given out the Lenten nails similar to the one you will receive this Ash Wednesday. We were instructed to carry that nail in our pocket throughout every day of Lent. No one was supposed to know that you were carrying it; it was between you and God. Each time you fished into your pocket for change or for your phone, or into your pocketbook to retrieve whatever it is that women keep in those things; each time you put your hand absentmindedly into your pocket…there it was: your Lenten nail. All throughout the 40 days of Lent that nail sits quietly in your pocket and never says a word—that is, until you feel its presence. You are instantly reminded “It is Lent.” We need to be reminded of this throughout the entirety of these lengthy 40 days and nights because we are human and we forget. We need to be reminded constantly of what God went through for you/us.
 
What made the Lenten nail so impressed upon my memory was that one mother had carried her Lenten nail throughout Lent and somewhere toward the end of Lent her son who was a year ahead of me in college was killed in a car crash. It was devastating. But here’s what I remember most: It is customary to return your nail at the end of Lent as a sign that you had completed your Lenten sacrifices and penances. As we will do on Good Friday, that mother so many years ago presented her Lenten nail to the priest on Good Friday, but her pastor would not accept it. Shockingly, the old pastor took that nail and hammered it directly into the base of
the Crucifix that stood in the center of that church. He told the mother that she had sacrificed enough. Her nail is still there today, driven into the base of the huge wooden Crucifix below the feet of the Savior. That mother has long since gone to God and back to her son. I’ll never forget that, as I can still see it all these years later.

So, when you get your nail, carry it quietly, proudly, silently, confidently and know that there are countless others carrying their
nails in their pockets, faithfully making sacrifices and penances. I would ask you and hope that you return the nail, as per the custom on Good Friday when every individual venerates the large wooden Cross. The tradition is to leave your nail at the foot of the Cross along with all of the other nails carried throughout the Lenten season by countless faithful. It is a sign that Lent has come to completion and that we give our sufferings to Him who died for me. The risen Christ has conquered eternal suffering and eternal death.
 
And then next Lent, you will receive your penitential nail once again. It will not be a new nail, but a used nail. In fact, the nail you will receive next year will be a nail that some other soul carries in his pocket this Lent. Let’s continue this tradition; the nail you will get this year is one someone else carried last year. It will be a tangible reminder that we are all on this journey together and that we pray for each other along the way.
 
Rev. Msgr. Robert Morrissey