40 Crosses for 40 Days: 11th Cross - The Season of Faith Cross

Here we are, making our way through the second full week of Lent. Eleven days in. Twenty-nine days to go.

The 'honeymoon' phase of our Lenten Promise (how we will fast, pray and give alms) has likely worn off and now we are settling down into the heart of it. It's a good time to remind ourselves of the reason why we are making this journey.

The Gospel reading from yesterday, the Second Sunday of Lent explains it all. We are in a season of faith, because, like the cross above says, "All things are possible with faith."

But what things, exactly are we talking about? Let's revisit the Mass readings from yesterday for some understanding. The first reading, from the Book of Genesis, retells Abraham's test. God asks him to sacrifice his dearly beloved and only son, Issac, and, somehow, Abraham agrees. He is not only willing to give back to God his most dear son, but Abraham doesn't even really push back. Remember, this is the same man who is willing to go back and forth with God over saving Sodom and Gomorrah, if there are 50, then 45, then 40, then 30, then 10 good people there. Where's that spunk now? How can he possibly be so blasé about this incredibly difficult request?

Scripture doesn't record the internal struggle that Abraham must have had. But we do know that he agrees, and he sets out to the land of Moriah with Isaac "early the next morning." God has already promised Abraham that He would make his descendants like "the dust of the earth," (Gen 13:16) and the "stars in the sky." (Gen 15:5) How are these promises to happen if Isaac is killed? The answer is fairly simple. Abraham believed that God had power over life and death. If God took his son now, then He would have to give his son back a new life, in some way, so that God's promises would be fulfilled.

With faith, all things are possible.

Skipping ahead to the Gospel reading, we see the same idea. Jesus takes three of His closest friends, Peter, James and John, up the mountain with Him. The Gospel of Mark tells us that Jesus was "transfigured before them, and His clothes became dazzling white, such that no fuller on earth could bleach them." (Mk 9:2-3) But Jesus is not alone. "Elijah appeared to them along with Moses, and they were conversing with Jesus." (Mk 9:4) The presence of Elijah, representing the Prophets, and Moses, representing the Law, conversing with Jesus signifies to us that God is about to fulfill all of His promises foretold through the prophets and established in the law. The giving of the new life, the new and eternal life, is about to occur. Jesus is preparing to make the self-offering of His own life that, at the last minute, was not asked of Isaac, so that His new life can be shared with all who follow Him to the cross.

And that's why we are making this journey, this trek through 40 days of desert. We do it to experience our own mini deaths along the way, death to anything keeping us from dying with Jesus. We do this, not to just put ourselves through various trials and tribulations, but so that we can rise to new life, just as Jesus does. This was the hope of Abraham, this is why he was willing to offer his son back to the God who gave Isaac to him. This is the promise of Jesus at his Transfiguration. This is the promise of Lent.

Incidentally, when the Season of Faith cross is hung up, the word "faith" in the green glass disappears and only the light coming through it can be seen. The promise of things to come fulfilled.

Let us pray: Holy Trinity, we pray for a strengthening of our faith, especially when, like Abraham, You ask us to suffer through difficult trials.  Help us to persevere on our journey this Lent, so that we may truly die to our old life and rise to new life in Christ at Easter. And in all things, let us praise you. Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit, as it was in the beginning, is now and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.

The Strawberry Vine - Cultivating a Catholic Imagination