The associated reading for this reflection can be found in your Every Sacred Sunday Mass journal or online here.
"Even now, says the LORD,
return to me with your whole heart,
with fasting, and weeping, and mourning;
Rend your hearts, not your garments,
and return to the LORD, your God."
Joel 2:12
Lent is when we join Christ in the desert, where He abstained from food for 40 days, in order to strengthen Himself, so that he would be prepared to take up the cross and redeem the world. We all know that, but this struck me in particular this year. We abstain from (or "give up") something for these days, and that can seem difficult enough. But imagine abstaining from all food for 40 days. Most of us would struggle with abstaining for one day, even on a lazy weekend!
We all have a cross to carry — the sign of a true Christian is their ability to take it up and follow Christ. Let us use this time every year to strengthen our resolve to carry our cross daily. If Christ needed 40 days to fast and pray, only imagine how desperately we need this time to rejoin our hearts to God and strengthen our resolve to follow Him.
February 26 is an important day in my life. In 2006, I experienced the first in a series of losses starting with the death of my grandmother. For most of my life, she was surrounded by deep suffering. Her name is beautiful, tragic, and unfortunately fitting: Dolores, from Dolorosa, meaning painful or sorrowful — we know it in the context of the Mater Dolorosa, or Our Lady of Sorrows. She experienced severe physical illness along with chronic depression and anxiety. Much of her life was a cross, but she never stopped reaching for Christ and striving to do His will.
In the final stages of her life, my grandma wasn't able to eat anymore, and was on an IV for several weeks. She deeply missed eating. This year, unlike ever before, I can't help but be struck by the connection to Christ's fasting in the desert. She truly joined herself with Christ and prepared — in a way that many of us will never experience — to follow Him in death with the hope of rising again.
Here at ESS, we’re all about breathing exercises. I would love to provide a prayer taken from my grandma Dolores's journal. Please use this as you meditate this Lent, bringing yourself to the desert, and sitting beside Christ as you fast and pray:
Inhale: Dear God, my heart is open to you,
Exhale: Come sit in my heart.
Marissa Meyer is an active cantor within the Diocese of Nashville. She received a Bachelor of Arts from Ave Maria University and a Master of Music from Belmont University. The best part about graduate school was adopting her dog, Esther (like the queen), and meeting her rockstar Fiancé. She has been #blessed to work for Every Sacred Sunday since January 2019.