What a journey we have been on, through this season of Lent! It seems so long ago, now, that we began by marking our foreheads with a cross of ashes, symbolizing penitence, humility, and mortality. Throughout the season, we took time to pray, fast, and give of our time and resources as we sought to reorient our hearts and our wills to align with those of our loving God.
And then, at the culmination of Holy Week and the transition into the season of light and life, at our Easter Vigil we renewed the vows we made at our baptism—the time at which many of us were signed with the cross of chrism. This holy oil calls to mind biblical images of the anointing of kings, the royal priesthood, and the eschatological seal of the saints. It also connects us to Christ (the anointed one)—by our own anointing at baptism, we have been joined to our Lord and have been given new life.
The cross is such a rich symbol of our faith. The same sign that came to us in ashes forty days ago, now comes to us in water and the Spirit. But that makes sense, in the context of the journey of Lent and the journey of our own lives. In Lent, we move from recognition of our failings, toward a proclamation of Christ’s victory—a victory over death, but also a victory over the power of sin. And in our own lives, we bear witness to that victory as we experience God’s power to transform us, to help us turn away from habits and thoughts and actions that lead us away from love. Thanks be to God, sin cannot hold us! The journey might be difficult, just as the journey to Golgotha was for Jesus, but the promise of the story is that the cross that the world saw as a sign of torture and shame has now become the symbol of love that is stronger than sin and death. There is nothing beyond God’s power to save, to restore, to redeem.
I hope this Lent has been a time of transformation in your own life. Whether you’ve found greater self-awareness, clarified your values, deepened your spiritual practice, or simply heightened your awareness of God’s love for you, I hope this has been a season of growth in your life of faith. And now as Easter dawns and we see the transformation that has taken place—the signs of new life in ourselves and in the world around us—our task is the same as the one given to the disciples that first Easter morning. We are to go and share the good news with others! May we share with them the story, not just of that first Easter, but of the new life we have experienced in our own journeys. Alleluia! Christ is risen!
Blessings, Mother Terry+