Some Years Feel like Lent; Some Feel like Resurrection

I’m learning in my adulthood that some years feel like Lent and other years feel like Resurrection.

The last 4 years for me have felt like a very long Lent and desert experience. I’m sure, for many of us, last year felt like Lent especially. It felt like endless grief and sorrow, turmoil and strife, and a long period of fighting darkness, sin and temptation. The Passion, the Sorrowful Mysteries, and the laments of suffering and strife in Scripture, deeply spoke to me at that time.

But this year they have not. This year feels more like Resurrection. It feels like springs of hope, trees of life, rays of light, rolled away stones, and a garden of bloom with an endless song of praise and gratitude in the depths of my soul. Naturally, I’m drawn to images of light and life, scriptures and songs of praise, and the Glorious Mysteries. 

I had a hard time this Lent truly entering into the time of year, and this insight came up frequently to reassure me. Not all years are meant to feel like Lent.

Lent and Easter are defined times of the Church to remember Christ’s death and resurrection, but the day to day spiritual life takes on a life of its own. In the spiritual life, some years feel more like Lent and some years feel more like Resurrection. The Holy Spirit just leads you, and it’s all for your growth into the person God intends you to be and the relationship He wants to have with you.

So if this Easter feels more like Lent for you, or if this Lent felt more like Easter for you, embrace “what was” and “what is.” It’s part of your ever-unfolding spiritual growth as He brings you through your own Passion and Resurrection to new life.