The Longing for Resurrection

Well, the third blizzard in a month has made me really enter into the desert (or tundra) with the Lord. I feel very much in the Lenten spirit of solitude and penance. Basically, I have cabin (or convent :)) fever! The winter has been so long and I am more than ready for the sun to come out and warm the earth back to life. In my weary heart I am also more than ready to feel the light of the Resurrection come upon me.

I know, it is only the beginning of Lent, but I think that this longing must be a gift from God for me this season. As I was shoveling this morning so that the sisters could get to Mass, and then after Mass to get the cars out, and then after that to do the sidewalks, I was thinking about the heavy burden of the Cross. Although my body is exhausted from all of this shoveling, my heart is heavy with the love with which I prepared the way for my sisters and the parish community. The reason I worked as I did was because I love them. I want them to be safe and secure.

It was well worth it because I could then watch out for them as we made our way slowly to Mass. A dear sister held onto my arm as I escorted her to the parish church. It filled my heart with joy to be with her and to be able to help her and to show her my love for her through my concern. I think that parents must feel like this quite often because of what they do for their children. I know that my experience today is a small reminder of the self-sacrificing love of Jesus on the Cross.

"And even though the victory over sin and death achieved by Christ in his Cross and Resurrection does not abolish temporal suffering from human life, nor free from suffering the whole historical dimension of human existence, it nevertheless throws a new light upon this dimension and upon every suffering: the light of salvation. This is the light of the Gospel, that is, of the Good News...God the Father has loved the only-begotten Son, that is, he loves him in a lasting way; and then in time, precisely through this all-surpassing love, he "gives" this Son, that he may strike at the very roots of human evil and thus draw close in a salvific way to the whole world of suffering in which man shares." - Pope John Paul II, Salvifici Doloris.

Lord, may I be brought forward to the Resurrection of love and light and grace. Amen.