Scripture give us many ways to know this Love that God has for people. And we can also come to know this love through our institutional church, which celebrates God’s love in many ways. When I seriously began my walk with Christ in a committed way, I was not fond of the Season of Lent. Honestly, I struggled with Lent because I saw it as a gloomy time and I, for sure, disliked Good Friday. That, of course, was my early twenties and little did I know how important Lent would become for a person who fell deeply in love with Jesus. Ironically, that deep intimate relationship came one Good Friday several years after my commitment to St. Michael’s. Outside the entrance to what is now the Choir robing room, I stood thinking about my life and this thought came to me – “Remember I died for you and my people”! I broke down in tears at this truthful realization from the Holy Spirit. I was changed with this knowledge. As my spiritual life unfolds, I experience the deeper meaning of my relationship to the Trinity and how God, Christ and the Holy Spirt helps me on my pilgrimage to my Eternal Home.
The Church has the four Seasons in which God demonstrates Love. Advent and Christmas is God’s Love coming to earth in God’s Son. Lent and Easter is Christ showing God’s Love to all people through His death and His resurrection. Pentecost sends God’s Love out into the world through God’s people. Ordinary Time is when we live in God’s Love the most. My Lenten observance this year will be my practice of study through reading and discussing material with St. Michael’s groups, having retreat time with my Franciscan companions and people in the Single Consecrated Life Community, and by participating in my Rule of Life by prayer and Confession with a Priest. I pray you will enjoy the Season of Lent and look forward to a Joyous and Holy Easter!
