What a Lent the Church has had! All throughout the world the Church has undergone a purification process of dramatic proportions. And here locally, who of us has not had our breath taken away by our own little drama? How many of us had to take stock of what is it that we really believe? How many of us have toyed with the idea that loving Christ is one thing, but loving His body, the Church, is sometimes too much to bear?
This Lent all over the world we have faced the scandal of the cross. That is, we have had to come to terms with whatever would be our stumbling block to prevent us from advancing in the grace of God. It also means that our faith has been tested, which is exactly what is supposed to happen in Lent.
Did I really mean that? That Lent is supposed to be a test of our faith? Yes, indeed. Lent is a time of testing. Like when Moses led the Jews out into the desert for 40 years, during which time they were tested time and again. They were tested by thirst; and God gave them water from the rock. They were tested by hunger; and God gave them bread from heaven. They were tested by boredom declaring how sick they were of the quail and manna, day after day; and God gave them an acute understanding of how bitterness is like a serpent that attacks and bites and kills.
The Israelites, Scripture says, yearned for “the fleshpots of
Being tested is when we grow from being a babe to being fully mature in Christ.
By now, after the testing of Lent, we should be at some level either more convinced of our faith in the Lord, truly risen in the Body of His Church; or, if our faith has not been nurtured for some time, we may have become even more weakened -- perhaps even to the point of abandoning ship.
Abandoning ship, however, would leave us storm tossed, stranded at sea, and in danger of drowning in the sea of worldly preoccupations. If we should abandon ship, what kind of hope would we have for finding the promised land of the
All of our faith, all of our reason for living in hope, rests on the stark fact that we believe with an unshakable faith that Jesus did indeed rise from the dead. He did indeed conquer evil.
This is the day that makes the entire human history revolve around Him. This is the day when a vague hope for immortality became not a vague hope but a sure and certain conviction that colors all of life. This is the day when the future opened out into eternity. This is the day when sin was defeated by goodness. This is the day when Satan was chained so as to not have the last word on anyone’s life. This is the day of salvation. This is the day of new life. This is the day of the Risen Lord who has the last word; and that word is one of peace.
So, my brothers and sisters, do you yearn for the fleshpots of Egypt, that is, do you yearn for earlier days when life seemed simpler, when it was easier to believe, when we were told what to believe and we did? Or, are you willing to be a part of our time, with all of its challenges and with all of the struggles? And are you willing to be a part of the Church with all of the contradictions that make faith no easy matter? If your answer is yes, then you do indeed know the Lord Jesus; and you know that He is truly risen from the dead. For you, faith in Jesus is not just because someone told you about Him. Faith is because you have grown to behold Him. It is now your own faith, not your parents’ faith. It is a faith that has been tested and purified. A faith that makes you ready to reassert your profession of faith with conviction and with joy.
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