Worth the Wait

Lent is a trying time to be a Catholic. It is honestly like joining a gym just after New Year’s, where you find yourself easily amongst many who want to recommit themselves, however you can slip away just as easily. Ash Wednesday has the largest faithful attendance out of any celebration that is not a holy day of obligation, however how many hear the Gospel proclaimed the next Sunday? I think a part of it is that we want to display our ashes. Every Catholic wants to proclaim who they are without having to say anything out loud. The ashes we receive proclaims the truth of the Gospel and human nature throughout our day. When we look in the mirror and see that mark on our heads, we are invited to remember that from dust we were made, and to dust we will return. And then that magical moment happens (hopefully) the next morning, when you hop in the shower and splash water on your face. Just like that, the mark is gone, and you are blended in again, lost in a sea of faces. Similar to our baptism though, we should be marked in our soul more than our head. It’s an interesting idea to ask someone how long their ashes lasted?
Today is Holy Thursday, and this evening, after the Mass of the Lord’s Supper, marks the end of the season of Lent and the beginning of the solemn season of the Paschal Triduum. So while Lent is over, we are invited deeper into the desert these next three days before the glorious celebration of Easter. I wish I could say that my ashes have lasted until today. I wish I could say that this reminder of dust was constantly on my mind and heart these past seven weeks. I also think that this is the beauty of the Paschal Mystery. Christ invites us to participate, not to lead. Even on the way of the cross, Simon the Cyrenian participated in the paschal mystery, to give us an example. Christ didn’t ask us to pick up our cross and lead the way. He asked us to pick up our cross and follow him. He promises to be there for us. We are invited to the altar to receive ashes physically once a year, however every Sunday of Lent we are reminded of the presence of those ashes. The first Sunday of Lent, we hear in the Gospel that Christ is the first to enter the desert of temptation and return whole. The second Sunday, Christ is transfigured and we are shown the darkness of our sin. The third Sunday, Christ tells us that a fig tree without fruit only exhausts the soil. The fourth, the story of the prodigal son appears and we see again the weakness of our human nature through the temptation of the world. On the fifth Sunday, Jesus reminds the people that we have all sinned, and have no right to condemn a fellow sinner. On Palm Sunday, we realize that even though we begin the Mass singing Hosanna, we end it in mourning. Lent is a time of support for the Church. Lent serves us through constant reminders of those ashes, of the hardship, and of the perseverance of the cross.
This is my favorite part of the year, because God pours out his grace in our weakness. He doesn’t reprimand us for not carrying our ashes everyday, but rather he renews us and replaces them, so that we can still share in the Easter joy to which he invites us. This is how much he loves us. In the wisdom of the Church, in organizing our year, I absolutely love how our liturgical calendar exists. We are called to 40 days of bearing ashes, 40 days of sacrificing, 40 days of penance. But Easter promises 50 days of renewal, 50 days of joy, and 50 days of celebration. This is why to me, Lent is well worth the wait.
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