WE BOW TO YOUR CROSS, O MASTER!
AND WE PRAISE YOUR HOLY RESURRECTION!
We have almost reached the mid-point of our forty day preparation for the Great Day, Easter. The essential themes of the weekends of this period have been primarily revealed in the Gospel passages. Their sequence, we must remember, was originally connected with preparing converts for initiation into the Church. These lessons are, therefore, an integral part of the early Christian catechesis. They explain and summarize the preparation of the catechumen for the Paschal mystery as experienced in Baptism. Baptism is the entrance into the new life which was inaugurated by Christ. This means that we who prepare ourselves for Pascha do so in our desire to see the inauguration of the new age – to see the manifestation of the Kingdom. But we know this, we will see it only if we believe and repent, if we change our minds, if we have the desire and if we accept the effort.
This weekend the preparation for the great mystery of Baptism is drawing to its end, the decisive hour of man’s entrance into Christ’s Death and Resurrection is quickly approaching. After this weekend, Lent is no longer the preparation of the catechumen for Baptism, but, although baptized and chrismated, are we not in a sense still catechumens? We return, each year, to this great mystery because we fall away again and again from our awareness of it and its revelation to us about life. The Church, in her infinite wisdom, know that we need this annual journey back to the very roots of our Christian faith in order to help us to continue our spiritual development.
It is interesting to note that the theme of the Cross, which will now be dominate during the remaining days of the Great Fast, is presented not in terms of suffering but of victory and joy. The Church presents for our reflection how Christ endured suffering as a means of helping us develop the ability to endure the suffering that naturally comes with life.
The Great Fast is our self-crucifixion, our experience, limited as it is, of Christ’s commandment heard in the Gospel: If any person would come after me, let him deny himself and take up– his cross and follow me (Mark 8:34). We must seriously ask ourselves what this commandment of Christ means to us. This should be a part of our ongoing reflection from now until the Great Day, Easter.