Embrace Grace

A Reflection on the Second Reading for Sunday, March 31st, 2024:
Easter Sunday

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Colossians
3.1-4

Brothers and sisters: If you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth, for you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ who is your life is revealed, then you also will be revealed with him in glory.

Pause. Pray. Reflect.

There are many options available to me on my journey through this life. Before me, and throughout the duration of the Lenten season, I perceived two rather distinct ways to wander along the road ahead: the easy way, and God’s way. I met this fork in the road in a literal sense while I was walking one Saturday morning to my destination: Starbucks.

At the outset of my walk, there were two options: the path well travelled (smoother, faster, and more predictable) or the road less travelled (hilly, icy, longer, and more beautiful). I chose the road less travelled because it felt like God was calling me there, yet on this path I lost my footing a number of times. My heart raced as I regained my balance, and I wondered if I would regret my choice. There is unpredictability on the path of God’s will, and I wasn’t feeling particularly smitten with that. At my third slip, I realized my problem. Pace. I had already placed my Starbucks order, and the last thing I needed was to arrive there on this cold winter day and find my special treat to be as cool as the air stinging my lungs. As I slowed down, reevaluated the situation, and refocused my heart and my eyes, I noticed something remarkable. The fast freeze the night before had left unique designs in the ice: stunning and unrepeatable. As the sunlight fell between the trees onto the path before me, it illumined the white sheen on the ground, like an unsoiled carpet guiding my direction. As I proceeded slowly, cautiously, and captivated by the wonder of God, I remained cold but my attention was no longer on my needs and desires. Instead, it was on the hand of the Creator.

Winter can be ugly and harsh. Perhaps that is why it seems an appropriate season for Lent. I am beginning to realize that things ugly, painful, unwelcome, harsh and all but defeating inexplicably are the very things God uses to dazzle, inspire, heal, soften, and give life to me. I suppose this moment of awakening is my very own spiritual Easter.

According to Father Brian Mullady, “[During Lent] the Church encourages Catholics to look deep within their souls and see when the spiritual winter of the discontented soul may have taken place during the past year.… [P]aralysis of spirit is much like the paralysis of nature encased in ice. Hardness of heart is caused by the lack of grace.” 

To embrace grace, I must adjust my pace. If I have learned anything this Lent, it is that life continues whether or not I am present in the moment or aware that time is quickening. It continues whether or not my eyes are on my problems or on the beauty of God in and through them. 

My prayer for you then, Dear Reader, is not so much that the ice may melt, but that God’s grace might be revealed in its reflection. It is not so much that your path may be easy but that, as you traverse each step, you might notice God’s hand leading you. It is not so much that all the ugliness of this world might be stripped away, but that the beauty of Christ might be revealed in you amid it. Christ is risen! May He rise again in you.

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Lori MacDonald

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