Lent with a Loved One – Wednesday Stations at Resurrection
Lent – a time of reflection – repentance, prayer, and almsgiving – and turning (or returning) to God. The first words Jesus preached after his time in the desert was “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand” (Mt 4:17), or as stated in Mark 1:14, “Repent, and believe in the gospel”.
We know that the gospel, the word of God, is the Good News. But, if a person has experienced the loss of a loved one in the last year, we can feel very alone in our life. Where is God? Where is my relationship with Him? Do you love me, God, because I really miss my loved one!
Death can make lent, our time in the desert, feel even more isolating. But Jesus said “Do not be afraid”. When Jesus ascended to heaven, he did not leave the apostles, nor his new church, orphans. He said “I am with you, always, until the end of the ages” (Mt 28:20). The binds that tie us in life do not unravel at death. But the physical separation can make us feel very alone. Our true relationship with God is both vertical, (the personal relationship with Jesus) and horizontal (the community, the church, us, the body of Christ). When we live in both, the vertical relationship and the horizontal relationship, we are living in the cross of Christ, (think of how the two lines intersect to make a cross), supported both by Him and by the community around us. Love of God, and life in the community, can begin to restore the relationship of love and belonging that we long for.
Lean on Christ and lean on the community. As you do, you will find that not only will you be lifted, but you will also help lift someone else in love.
Join us on Wednesdays in Lent (except Ash Wednesday) to pray the Stations of the Cross at 6pm in Holy Angels Mausoleum. Wednesday Stations will be February 21 and 28, and March 7, 14, and 21, 2018. On Good Friday, March 30, we will do an outside communal walk of the Stations of the Cross in Calvary Cemetery at 3:00 PM. Pray for your loved one, pray for yourself, pray for your family, pray for others present. Enhance the experience by bringing a family member or friend. Experience Christ helping lift your cross with his love. I look forward to praying with you.