First Sunday of Lent
Isn’t it true everyone loves a story, even if we’ve heard it over and over? It’s easy to remember family get-togethers when someone begins telling stories that trigger other stories about the funny things that happened, or the exciting times with rescues just in time, or the hard times when everyone had to do without and suffer together. These stories become the repeating memories passed from one generation to the next with everyone taking something of value and making it their own.
We celebrate the First Sunday of Lent today, and we know we’ve been here before. There is a familiar sense of being connected to this annual presentation of past history but also the freshness that comes from our personal participation. We grow in our own self-knowledge and the gift of faith as we feel drawn into the story in new ways.
Although this happens for people in different ways, we could say that the overall thrust of the Lenten story moves to a stunning highpoint. It’s the story grounded in human history of God having sent his Son Jesus as the greatest sign of the Father’s love extended to His wayward people. Lent is a time of growing intensity as the events become more and more vivid and draw us ever deeper into something that is life-changing. But we must desire and prepare ourselves for this change. All of this is leading us to the heart of the Greatest Mystery of all, the Paschal Mystery. It is the mystery of the transformation of the death of Jesus, and our own death, taking on a new dimension. This happens through the resurrection and through the gift of the Spirit of the Risen Christ.
This has been called the greatest story ever told and we have the privilege of hearing it time and time again. This allows us to find the deeper meaning of hope as it is found hidden in both great and small things of our everyday lives. As we walk through this story with the entire Christian community, we stop to ponder powerful events such as Jesus, in the Gospel today. He stands for us rejecting the temptations coming from the devil and our human nature. It reminds us of our daily need to purify our minds and hearts to be able to receive the fullness of the Great Mystery which is still to come.
Reflection by Fr. Daniel Petsche, OSB
Posted in Articles for Lent, Daily Reflections, Lenten Resources