For me, Lent seems to be the time of the year when I best become “spiritually cleansed.” This is for a lot of reasons, but mostly due to the atmosphere created in the Catholic Church during this time of year. What is most incredible and so dynamic about Lent is what the Church calls us to focus on: the sacrament of confession, fasting/abstaining, and the Crucifixion. But why all of a sudden must we focus on these specific things? Shouldn’t we be focusing on these aspects throughout the year?
The reason is Love.
There is no greater love than that which God has given us, the redemption of mankind through the sacrificing of His only Son. The Church is calling us to take a closer look at this love. I was trying to figure this seemingly theological “love” thing out recently, especially the love that God has for us. I don’t know about you, but sometimes it’s tough to feel the love. We are told it’s there, but I can’t always get it, ya know?
I was listening to some tunes on my iPod recently and an old favorite of mine came on by surfer/songwriter Jack Johnson. And this is what he has to say:
“Love is the answer for at least most of the questions in my heart, like why are we here? Where do we go? And how come this is so hard? It’s not always easy but sometimes life can be deceiving, I’ll tell you one thing it’s always better when we’re together.”
Connect these lyrics with the Lenten message of the Love of Christ in His sufferings, and we can sort of understand the meaning of love, and even the idea of suffering as well. Through every cross, little or big, we are united in Christ’s sufferings. Also during Lent, we are reminded that Christ did not carry His cross by himself. What ever is going on in our lives during this Lenten season know one thing- God loves us and is right next to us, helping us out with that cross of ours.
So focus on your loved ones, and remember that God is with us. As Saint Paul writes in his letter to the Romans “neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor present things, nor future things, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
Today's blog is written by one of our Marianist high school students
