Today we begin, with Ash Wednesday, our trek into Lent as we plod along, hopefully with Jesus, towards His final days on earth and the glorious Resurrection.
Trek you ask? Plod? According to the dictionary (yes, some of us still use them) a trek is a trip or movement especially when involving difficulties or complex organization : an arduous journey. To plod is to trudge, walk heavily, drag oneself, lumber or slog. Slog? Where is she getting these words, you may ask? Not often used? Slog, when used as a noun, is a spell of difficult, tiring work or traveling. I am sure by now you get the point.
This season is not meant to be a rapid, easy trip, but rather one that is slow, difficult and full of negation - not giving up easy things, like sugar and TV programs, but rather a death to our old, bad habits. It is a time to look to the Gospels for Jesus’ example how we should live our lives, with prayer, inner joy, and kindness, thanking God for the many graces we daily receive. In the words of St. Benedict only then can we look forward to holy Easter with joy and spiritual longing.
In the words of Pope Emeritus Benedict: We begin today the liturgical season of Lent with the thought-provoking rite of the imposition of ashes, through which we wish to take on the commitment to convert our hearts to the horizons of grace. In general, in common opinion, this time runs the risk of being marked by sadness, by the darkness of life. Instead, it is a precious gift of God; it is an intense time full of meanings in the journey of the Church; it is the itinerary to the Lord’s Easter...
It is important to remember that even Jesus did not run to the top of Calvary with His Cross. It was a slow trek! And He fell along the way, sometimes rising only with the help of another. May His Blessed Mother be there for us as we slog along in the steps of her Son!