“Forgive me father, for I have sinned” Those words are a powerful admission of our need for God’s healing grace. I have said them this past week and have heard them said many dozens of times in the celebration of the Sacrament of Reconciliation in the numerous services I have and will be doing throughout Lent. This week I am scheduled to hear over 9 hours of confessions both at my parish and throughout the diocese. It is truly a great blessing.
One of the things, during these times of reconciliation, I have noticed is the number of people this year who have “confessed” to a difficult Lent. I may be noticing because of my own struggles this year or God has put it on my heart to be more attentive to this sin. Whatever the case we are never alone in our struggles.
A few years ago, during one of my more difficult Lents as a seminarian, I confessed my utter failure with my Lenten discipline. I had failed in prayer and in fasting over and over again. My giving of alms was done grudgingly and with little thought. The priest advised me to “bring your Lent into Easter.” This was not what I wanted to hear but it is good advice. Why? Because this is what the early church did.
Think about the Gospels. Peter failed spectacularly when he ran, denied our Lord and the walked away in despair. The Easter gift, bringing Lent into Easter, was the healing and the reconnecting with Jesus in feeding His sheep. The other disciples and apostles did much the same and in St. Thomas’ case, even disbelieved his friends when they testified to the resurrection…Jesus invited him and all the apostles into a new relationship: his Easter gift. If the goal of our Lenten journey is to become closer and more united with our Lord Jesus then Easter isn’t a “you’re done” day but rather it is a “let us continue in love” day.
Cardinal Robert Sarah shares with us this beautiful insight, “God is a discreet friend who comes to share joys, pains and tears without expecting anything in return. We must believe in this friendship.” (#175 from “The Power of Silence”) Let us continue in love because God is with us, as a discreet friend, in the journey, even when the journey may seem fruitless.
Where to we go from here? First, we begin again. Even in the dying light of our Lenten days we are still invited into the vineyard of the Lord. With only a few hours left a bountiful harvest can still be shared when we walk with Jesus. Take time in prayer to review your Lent with a spouse, child, parent or friend listening for the gifts and blessings God has shared…even if we think it didn’t go well. Allowing our hearts to hear Jesus speak to us we are often better able to see his abundant love and recognize the jewels that have been given to us which we often discard in our busyness. Last but not least, take time with the Passion readings these next days. Read them silently or as a family over and over again during Holy Week as we hear the voice of Jesus speak to us with grace and love. Prepare to break our hearts open to receive the Eucharist as Fr. Ronald Rolheiser OMI writes, “Eucharist, then, is meant not just to celebrate our joys and gratitude, but also to break us open, to make us grown in anguish, to lay bare our mistrust, to lessen our jealousies and break down the distances that separate us. What the Eucharist asks of us is vulnerability, humility, contrition, and forgiveness. Bitterness, hatred, and suspicion are meant to disappear at a Eucharist.” (p 111, from “Our One Great Act of Fidelity”)
Whether your Lent has been joyful or fruitful, whether it has been good or just okay, if it has been hard and laborious, or perhaps a failure and disaster, “bring your Lent into Easter” for it is here we continue to grow in grace as the Son who is our new Dawn shines the light of love into our hearts.

God Bless
Fr. Mark