A Month of Holidays

February is a holiday month. We begin by waiting for the ground hog to predict the end of winter. We commemorate two of our greatest presidents, George Washington and Abraham Lincoln. We set a date aside to celebrate an old Saint of the church, St. Valentine as a special day for lovers to remember each other in special ways.

From the 17th to the 23rd we observe Brotherhood and Sisterhood week. Of course, Lent begins on Ash Wednesday.

Lent is a religious season designed by the early Church as a time for each of us to look within. It is a time of self-reflection, self-denial, and self-preparation for Holy Week. It is a time to particularly realize the passion of Christ in one’s life. We might call Lent: Forty Day’s of the Cross.

On Ash Wednesday the cross is a faint shadow. Some denominations burn last year’s palms to make the ashes, and the worshippers are marked on the forehead with an ashen cross. Then as the days pass, as it was with Christ’s ministry, the cross looms ever larger and foreboding.. Just so, the sacrifice and agony of the Lord should become more present to the worshipper in each day of Lent.

When I walked through the Garden of Gethsemane on a long-ago visit to the holy lands, I was especially touched by the suffering of Jesus’. The original olive trees among which Jesus walked prayed are still living in the garden. These trees are between 2000 and 2500 years old. And what is most striking about them, in addition to their age, is how gnarled their trunks are. They bear wrinkles and scars of these last two thousand years having a weather-beaten appearance bespeaking the agony of Christ as he seated blood over his decision to bear the cross on our behalf. The trees speak of God’s agony as God watches over this weary, war-torn world. There is not even peace in the land where God promised peace at His son’s birth.

I was moved not only by the thought that my Lord and Savior walked in this very place and perhaps touched these very trees, but also by the thought that the outward appearance of these ancient olive trees must look like the heart of Christ as he agonized over his death on the cross for me and you. His disciples who he had asked to watch with him, fell asleep. He was left alone to agonize (Luke 22:39-46).

How much his Church today is like those first disciples. For the most part his church sleeps while Christ continues to sweat blood over his creation. We as individuals and as a church cannot continue to give God our second best or a back-handed effort. We can no longer remain asleep while family life, community, morality, and moral responsibility continue to decline. We need to realign our priorities and commitments The first priority being Jesus Christ and his will for our lives. He still agonizes over what we do or fail to do.

So let us permit this Lenten season to be a time of recommitment and deeper dedication to the Lord of the Cross and the God of Resurrection. Let us not let Jesus agonize alone anymore.