February 15th Lenten Reflection

Luke 9:18–25

Once when Jesus was praying alone, with only the disciples near him, he asked them, “Who do the crowds say that I am?” They answered, “John the Baptist; but others, Elijah; and still others, that one of the ancient prophets has arisen.” He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” Peter answered, “The Messiah of God.”

He sternly ordered and commanded them not to tell anyone, saying, “The Son of Man must undergo great suffering, and be rejected by the elders, chief priests, and scribes, and be killed, and on the third day be raised.”

Then he said to them all, “If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me. For those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake will save it. What does it profit them if they gain the whole world, but lose or forfeit themselves?”

Reflection

Daniel Lieurance

Behold the Lamb of God

Lent is not a time for following the cross of Jesus into Holy Week. Jesus did not come only to die on a cross but came to live for us. To show us how life is achieved and how to be like him, a lamb of God. He did not come as a sacrifice to be worshiped but to show us how to transcend the sacrifice into a human daily act of worship.

During Lent, the crosses in the church are covered from sight. This year, even the Crucifer is removed from the service processions. The absence is a reminder that Lent is not about the cross but about us and the relationship to whom we belong. We are dust the creator created, the same stuff of which all the universe is made — from our very person to the smudge we bear.

The life Jesus demonstrated revealed the Lamb of God, whom Peter veritably recognized as the Messiah. Yes, he underwent great suffering and rejection and was killed and raised again, but as importantly, he lived to show and teach us to follow him. He revealed the truth of living and gave those who would watch and listen the meaning of how to live and how to live forever.

On Ash Wednesday, we are given a prescription for Lent: to humbly make offerings, to pray in privacy and to observe deliberate abstinence, all of which mold and form our character. But is character enough to transform our lives? A shift in perspective changes us, what we see, and how we achieve any objective; remembering to whom the dust belongs is life, and denying selfishness with respect for others is living. Such denial prevents the forfeiture of ourselves when accomplished daily through our life’s adventure of following Jesus.

There is no burden; there is no struggle, there is no surprise we find before informed, no flight from reality we discover without the courage to conquer, no hurt or pain endured alone if we are the children of the dust our creator created and take up our cross, ourselves, whatever our daily effort may be and follow him. After all, we are the cross, those veiled crosses in the nave, the cross to which Christ is crucified. Behold the Lamb of God!