I find it challenging to reconcile Easter and then Lent in this order. Of course, God has no problem with this order because God is eternal—eternally present, eternally dying, and eternally risen. It’s only me, in my finite humanity and comprehension, who has difficulty with this concept.
I pondered what it would mean to walk with the risen Christ through Lent. I recalled how, after the Resurrection, the early disciples did not immediately recognize Jesus. They didn’t recognize the risen Christ walking with them on the road to Emmaus or as they were cooking fish by the shore. They were looking right at him, but their eyes did not register the person beside them as Jesus. There was a process during which the eyes of their hearts were opened. By spending time with the risen Christ and listening to his voice, they gained a gradual awareness of his presence.
It seems, then, that if we invite the risen Christ into our journey through Lent, we might have an even deeper experience of the season. By spending time with him and listening to his voice, we too may find the eyes of our hearts opened anew.
And so, this Lent I pray:
Lord, come beside me, walk with me through Lent this year.
Come beside me, let me feel your presence, hear your voice.
Open the eyes of my heart,
Illuminate within it
Places of eternal Lent where
I have not permitted your Love entry.
Help me to open these places.
Root out that which needs to leave,
And make room for the joy of your Resurrection.
Open the eyes of my heart to see you
In those with whom I live and work and walk.
Come into those Golgothas,
Those broken places in me, in relationships with others, in the world around us,
In need of reconciliation,
And the healing of your Resurrection.
Open the eyes of my heart to see you
in those whose walk through Gethsemane is long.
Allow me to accompany you in them.
Remain with us, remind us, instill within us
The quiet confidence of hope in
The joy of your Resurrection.