“For God So Loved”

Dear Friends,

I know I’ve said this before, but I’m never quite sure where time goes. We’ve already reached the month of March, which has brought us to the beginning of the Season of Lent with Ash Wednesday. Some Junior High students stopped in my office a few weeks ago to visit. One of the boys asked when our next Mass would be. I told him it would be our Ash Wednesday Mass on March 5, the beginning of Lent. He looked at me, shook his head and said, “Lent. Advent was more fun!”

I guess he’s right. Lent is hard! It’s so easy to think about the manger; it’s quite another thing to think about the cross. The truth is, however, that the manger would lose its meaning without the cross. “For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him might not perish but might have eternal life.” (John 3:16)

In writing these reflections, I always look back over the years at other things I’ve written to gain inspiration or ideas. Years ago, I found something I had written for a Reconciliation Service back in the mid-90’s, something that truly speaks of the amazing love that our God has for each of us and of the greatest sign of that love in the sending of His Son. I thought I would share it again here, hoping that it will also speak to each of you:

“My children, I have loved you from the first moment when the universe fell from my fingertips. I have been with you at all times, as I am now. The sign for which you look has been given. My only Son came into this world to show you that I am with you in joy and in sorrow, in victory and in disappointment, in pain and in love. He came so that the eyes of those blinded by fear and hurt might be opened; that those imprisoned by hatred and anger might be set free; that those lost in the darkness of depression and worry might be guided into the light of peace. The sign has been given . . . no greater sign could ever be. In this sign, you will truly conquer, finding the power to transform and to change, turning away from those things that divide and separate . . . those things that cause hurt and pain . . . those things that keep you from me and from each other. The sign for which you look has been given!”

As I write this, I’m just putting some final touches on our Ash Wednesday Mass, thinking about the journey we will begin on that day, a journey which begins with ashes and leads to a cross of wood on a lonely hillside. The journey will lead us through a joyful welcome with palms and a last supper; a sorrowful prayer in the garden and to Good Friday . . . but we are not left there. We will be taken to an empty tomb and to the glory of the Resurrection. Life is not easy and definitely holds its share of “Good Fridays,” but we are never left there! For every Good Friday, there is an Easter Sunday that follows! As true believers, we know . . . “For God so loved the world . . . ” For God so loves us!

I pray that our God who loves us and holds us and all of our tomorrows be with each of you, that you may be strong and faithful and faith-filled in what can be a difficult and challenging world. Always know how greatly you are loved and remembered in thought and in prayer, forever thankful for you and for all the ways your lives touch mine.

Love and Prayers,
Mike J