Last week I highlighted the coming of Spring. New life and a fresh window of opportunity. To begin with it is a challenge; a challenge of the highest order because of the current climate. There is no magic process to be called upon.
So it is most appropriate that we are presented in the life of the church with the season of Lent. The Stations of the Cross have traditionally been an important part of Lenten preparation and devotions. A memory in my life, is one of my dad doing the Stations of the Cross all the way through Lent. Because he was very crippled by arthritis, suffering great pain, it was a powerful witness to his faith and the strength that he received from it.
In the wider picture the coronavirus is very crippling, a source of suffering and affliction, many isolated in their sufferings, and people left feeling powerless and not sure what to do for the best. The constant feedback from the media and also from the immediate environment is anything but helpful. Normally we could turn to the church for strength and support, but our celebration of funerals highlights the reality of our time. There have been good moments, and streaming services, meetings and Masses have been a welcome introduction. But the immediate circumstances of our life means that we cannot satisfactorily feel that what was achieved was good enough, or indeed very helpful. At the same time they do provide moments of grace and a sense of “the best we can do in the circumstances”.
Next Wednesday is Ash Wednesday, the beginning of Lent, and so it leaves us with immediate decision, thanks be to God. The vaccination programme with its successful roll out is going very well. I am grateful to have received my first vaccination and I am very at ease and pleased with the protection that it has given me. My ears are also full of its limitations that I do not deny. But with options and choices remaining “stay safe and protect each other”, I am ready to move on within its limitations. So the ashes which were part and parcel of my childhood school. The headmaster from when we were five or six year olds distributing them to the whole school. “Remember, man, that thou art dust, and unto dust thou shalt return”, repeated and repeated, “Remember, man, that thou art dust, and unto dust thou shalt return”, until everyone in the school was done, and then it was the question, who got the biggest daub?
So here we are today. For many of us who could avail of the great gift of streaming Spiritual Communion has become an important focus. So our Mass for Ash Wednesday sets the stage for our spiritual process and please God, with one step at a time we will return to near normal circumstances.
