Forty: the time of motherhood

Fr. Livio Tonello, director

Number 40 has a very symbolic meaning in the Bible. Here are many of the examples connected to number 40: the rains fell in Noah’s days for 40 days and nights, Moses travelled for 40 years in the desert, this number recalls the days of the conversion of Ninive, the years of Saul’s reign, David and Salomon’ kingdom... Jesus fasted for 40 days and nights in the desert: it was his Lent. Number 40 generally symbolizes a period of testing, trial or probation for God’s people. It does not only have a chronological meaning as a sum of days, but it is a time of trial and testing, of hope, it is the time of new growth and transformation. Curiously many events of our lives are connected with this number, especially in procreation: the days to confirm a possible pregnancy, the weeks of gestation before delivery, the days of physical recovery... the number that marks the birth of life! This is what will happen during Lent (that begins on 5 March with Ash Wednesday) because it is the time that creates a new life, the time of motherhood. It is a theology of the “flesh” to rediscover the forty days…