Thus says the LORD: Remember not the events of the past, the things of long ago consider not; see, I am doing something new! Now it springs forth, do you not perceive it? In the desert I make a way, in the wasteland, rivers. (Is. 43:18-19)
Consider Our Lord. He is always doing something “new.” We might have heard the expression, “whenever the Lord closes a door, He opens another.” Isaiah’s prophecy above points to a number of events. It points to the deliverance of Israel from Egypt, as they made their way to the Promised Land through the Red Sea. It points to Paschal Mystery by which Our Lord saved us from sin by offering Himself on the cross. And it points to the Holy Spirit – the true source of life by means our lives are renewed. And we are called to take part in this “renewal” on an individual basis. Our Lord “renews” us only to the extent that we are opened to being “renewed.”
This Wednesday, we begin the season of Lent. While today we might be focused on the parades and parties of Mardi Gras, Lent should be a time of renewal. The austerity of Lent is given to us so that we might contemplate the fleeting nature of earthly goods. When we rely on them, we will never find happiness. And the events of Holy Week remind us that Jesus entered into our earthly reality. But His purpose wasn’t to comfort us her, but to renew us and bring us into a new reality of life in the Spirit. We participate in that reality through the Sacramental life of the Church. Mardi Gras is almost over. Let us prepare ourselves for Easter by making a good Lent. And when Easter comes, we will be renewed.
(Rev. Msgr.) Christopher H. Nalty
msgr.nalty@gmail.com
