February 27, 2009
The Second Half
Turning back
BY DEACON JIM AND ANN CAVERA
Lent is a time to get back to the basics. As a church we shed ourselves of decorations, flowers and music that may distract us from the reality of our humanity. Smeared with ashes, we have been asked to turn away from sin, to embrace the Good News, to remember we are dust and to dust we will return. The first reading of this First Sunday of Lent directs our thoughts to an ancient story that recalls God’s everlasting covenant with us. Every time we see a rainbow we are reminded of God’s promise. In the second reading, the letter of Peter tells us that through Christ we are led to God and the Gospel calls us to repentance. Choosing carefully our spiritual water and food for the desert, we begin the journey to the cross with the kingdom of God on the horizon.
Some may look at this season of Lent as dark and gloomy, but we see it differently. When we set aside all the tinsel and fluff that this world bombards us with on a daily basis, we can then focus on the reality of our very existence. The truth is God loves each of us beyond our ability to comprehend. We can only get a glimpse of His love for us in our own love for others. Over the next six weeks we are invited along on a journey that will lead to Jerusalem, to Calvary, and ultimately to the empty tomb. It is not a journey to death but a journey of love bringing victory from despair, opening for us a new way of life.
This year Lent comes at a time filled with difficulty and hardship. There is much instability at home and abroad. The headlines are filled with bad news that impacts all of us in some way or another. We are all exposed to the insecurity of our economic downturn, resulting in more feelings of vulnerability today than many of us can ever remember. There is a national hunger for some good news. We need hope, but where do we find it? Financial security has proved the most elusive hope of all with incomprehensible billions evaporating overnight.
Are we looking for security in the right place? This year Lent finds us with people of all faiths, as well as no faith questioning priorities, trying to determine what is of real value in their lives. As Christians, we place our hope in Jesus Christ who is the way and the truth and the life. Our greatest gift to others in these troubled times may be the peace that comes from the faith we carry especially in the most uncertain of times. Through prayer and the study of the Lenten readings each of us can enter into this journey that brings us the kind of hope the world cannot take away. The way we choose to walk through Lent can offer a source of peace and inspiration to others wandering in the desert.
Deacon Jim and Ann Cavera are former residents of Evansville; their award-winning column is a regular feature of the Message. Contact them at www.catholicseniorspirit.com.