The Paschal Mystery reminds us that God heals, He loves and He forgives. And when we feel Him close to us, His presence surrounds us, envelopes us and becomes part of us. Many of us struggle with our relationship to God. He is very often difficult to see, never answers us in terms that we would like, and never presents Himself in the concrete ways that we, as humans, could take as "visible signs." Most times, we dwell on our weaknesses and our failures? or we try to pretend that God couldn't possibly love us in the way that we are told He does.
Yet, all of us have had moments in our lives when the presence of God is real. It could have been in the kindness of a stranger, the embrace of a child, a quiet moment alone or in the words of a passing missionary. And if we are open to it, the mystery of God overpowers the stench of sin and death, the ugliness of suffering and pain and the foul odor of hatred and violence. The Cross of Christ reminds us that God's arms are opened wide in a loving embrace, that He has smashed the rock of the Tomb and that He has given us a new life in Himself.
This is what Lent reminds of. It is a preparation for Easter - but it is so much more. It reminds us of our own temptations. It reminds us of our weakness, and our sins, and our failures. It reminds of everything that tarnishes or warps Christ's image, whether in the individual or in the community.
More importantly, however, it reminds that God really doesn't care about these things. He only cares about us, and He loves us in spite of ourselves. Lent reminds us that our participation in the Paschal Mystery is not without suffering nor death, and that within our lived experiences, there is a sacred Presence and Love which constantly sustains us.
Our Lenten observances and practices are not ends in themselves, but are merely spiritual helps to draw us more deeply into oneness with all that Jesus is about. They help us to experience the fragrance of our God, to feel it all over our skin and in our hearts and our souls. And they reaffirm our ability to spread that fragrance among each other.
And so we again enter into the invitation and the challenge of Lent, well aware that our struggle with the spirit of evil goes on. We acknowledge weakness and failure; but we are reassured of the power of the saving death and resurrection of Jesus. Hopefully we will try to spend these days strengthening our faith, our hope and our love. We should spend some time during these days walking with Jesus in prayer, worship, sacramental encounter, self-denial and acts of Christ-like humility.
Together we can make the victory of the Paschal Mystery more visible and tangible in our own lives and in the lives of those around us.
