As we get older, experience may invite a different perspective on our appreciation of Lent. After all, each year the Church devotes an entire Holy Season to acknowledge, in part, the forty days that Jesus was in the desert - alone, desolate, praying for some sense of direction. There is solace in knowing that even Jesus went through dark times: encompassed by the unknown, with expectations and plans falling apart all around. We all know these seasons of life.
Our local Church also has lived in desert times for the past few years which has caused uncertainty, disruption, and grieving. And we have experienced significant and ongoing change in our own faith community.
As Pastoral Associate, I have the privilege of being immersed in parish life – from the mundane to the purely grace-filled. I am able to be with fellow parishioners at all different stages of life’s journey. I also witness and hear many of the needs, desires and prayers of our faith community.
Something which has not changed in recent times is the number of our brothers and sisters who need pastoral care, or the corporal and spiritual works of mercy, or to know God’s love and support through our parish. If anything, those needs are greater than ever.
We have many extraordinary ministries at Resurrection Parish to be present to these needs, but the pandemic, in particular, has lessened the number of lay faithful who are involved. Please consider this a plea to discern your own participation in the parish; whether in outreach, social events, or the liturgy. Feel free to contact me with any questions or concerns and I will do my best to get you connected.
Gratefully, we know that Lent is not the end of the story – but that the culmination is in six weeks at Easter – dying and rising. Then light shall rise for you in the darkness, and the gloom shall become for you like midday; Then the LORD will guide you always and give you plenty even on the parchedland. Is58: 10-11.
We have a season, Lent, which recognizes and honors the reality of the dark times in our lives and communities. May we feel God's presence in both the dark and the light. Amen.