Dear beloved siblings in Christ,
On this Monday of Holy Week, as we together move into the experience of Christ’s service, suffering, death and resurrection amidst a time of worldwide suffering, I am moved to urge us all to pause, and to pause in
silence, so we might hear the Spirit speak to us the consolation that we so need in this time. I can’t recall a time in my own lifetime when the whole world suffered in the same way like this, or when the whole world together fought the same fight for healing quite like now. Perhaps during no other Holy Week will we all be quite as open and ready for the transformation possible in our Lord and Savior's selfless act of love embodied on the cross, and its power to redeem our lives and the world.
Will you take some time this week for silence, to pause and reflect on Jesus’ saving acts?
As you pause and reflect, I pause with you, asking myself:
What is Jesus’ suffering showing me that gives me abundant consolation of comfort and hope amidst the grief and pain?
What is my own suffering in this time showing me? What can I let go of, or what needs to die in me, that is getting in the way of my receiving God’s redemptive love?
What is Christ’s dying and rising showing the Church today? What are we being called to release so that we can be made new, to embody and share this lavish love we know in Christ?
I recognize those are big questions. I don’t know about you, but I don’t want to miss out on the unique opportunities for transformation in this holy and difficult time. I don’t want to miss what God is showing me, showing us.
Maybe, by God’s relentless grace and if we stay open to the possibilities, when we come out of this pandemic we might find that we’ve grown a little closer to the image of Christ within each of us.
May it be so.
May the God of all mercies and consolations, bless you this Holy Week.
In Christ,
Nancy
