Is anyone else a little sad that Lent is over?
I know, I'm a freak. Don't get me wrong it's not that I'm not completely beside myself in Easter joy. Alleluia!!! It's just that I always seem to work better with rules and obligations. In another life, and another body, I probably would have done well in the Army...but alas, I hate guns and as those of you who know me in real life know that I only run if I'm being chased.
Sunday morning, when I opened my eyes I thought, "My Lord, you have risen today! you restore innocense today! you set captives free today!" Followed shortly by...."oh no, Lent is over...I'm going to become the slothful, selfish individual I've always been all over again."
I'm a card carrying Wretch (thats right with a capital W) thats no secret, but as any truly wretched Wretch knows, I'd be something much worse if not for the precepts of the Lord. I know, you're saying "duh Amy...those precepts aren't just for Lent" but there is a special kind of suffering in Lent.
I was thinking about liturgical time this morning, how we understand it to be in a sense standing outside of time and in a sense it's own time all together. We fast and abstain on good friday in honor of the passion and death of our Lord when in fact He has already risen. So awesome, don't you just love the Church? It's something I want to reflect on more. At the vigil Mass, as the priests were processing back down the aisle at the end, everyone was singing at the top of their lungs "Jesus Christ is Risen today!!!!" you could feel the joy of the resurrection all around and in the midst of it all I was struck by the sight of the crucifix coming down the aisle. I couldn't take my eyes off of it.
My new blog friend Penni recently expressed that she's having some questions and doubts about her Catholic faith. It happens to all of us at times but its moments like that procession that secure my own weak faith. What I mean is, it's possible that all of this liturgy and the Church as a whole could be one big crock. It could all be just alot of pomp and circumstance and bells and whistles save for one thing; the cross. It makes no sense that we should praise a king who hangs on a such a sign of contradiction and because of that, it makes all the sense in the world.
So, in the same way that the cross is triumphant and still tragic in the midst of the resurrection, I suppose the cross and therefore Lent has got to stay with us even in the joy of Easter.
Or maybe I'm just crazy?
Amy:
ReplyDeleteWithout the Resurrection, the Cross would be just another story of a would-be messiah coming to a bad end. Such things were well known in Judaism both before and after Jesus. And that's how Jews as such still tend to see him. Our faith is a Resurrection faith. Yet I acknowledge that the two go together, along with the Incarnation. The Gospel is the story of the Passover of the Lord making possible our own. That's how the New Testament fulfills the Old.
As for Penni, her name is legion. I've been a committed Catholic for over thirty years, and I can't tell you how many people I've met who say "I'm Catholic, but..." and then proceed to give a list of teachings they either reject outright or treat as optional for Catholics when they are no such thing. People need to ask themselves whether the Church is what she claims to be. If they say yes, then their difficulties are not doubts and are to be handled by—in descending order of importance—submission, prayer, and study. If they say no, then they might as well be Protestants.
Best,
Mike
Well, I agree with what you said but I've come to know Penni a bit through her writing and I think there's something to be said for moments of doubt, genuine struggles and the journey back. Even the greatest saints had dark nights.
ReplyDeletewow. i came in to say something but am struck by what your first commenter said -- my name is legion?
ReplyDeleteholy crap. i have tears in my eyes.
how narrow and without thought that comment was and, mike, if you embody what Catholicism is -- you are correct: i might as well be protestant; just like i was 11 years ago before i chose to be Catholic.
*sigh*
thanks, amy, for having my back. i am no saint, but find it consoling that the saints struggled, as well.
I confess, I don't miss Lent. At ALL! But I'll give it to you that I've had a harder time than usual celebrating it for some reason... maybe because I feel like my Lent wasn't all that it should have been, therefore the celebrating shouldn't be as much either. Hm. As for this strange first comment... ick. The Cross and the Resurrection is one thing- neither of them make sense without the other. The Resurrection makes no sense without the Cross either- not just the other way around. We recognize Jesus because of His wounds. "Look at my hands and feet"... and in this, penni, you have been given the gift of sharing in the Lord's humiliation and His being misunderstood (He too was thought evil, a blasphemer... "Crucify Him!"). God bless.
ReplyDeleteI second your post Boo :)
ReplyDeleteYour are Nice. And so is your site! Maybe you need some more pictures. Will return in the near future.
ReplyDelete»