Monday of the Fourth Week of Lent

 Isaiah 65:17-21          John 4:43-54

Isaiah gives us a beautiful image of God’s new creation with nature and humanity in harmony. This fulfills God’s love where He creates “Jerusalem to be a joy and its people a delight.” In the Gospel from John, Jesus heals the son of a royal official to show his compassion with those who believe.

This hope and optimism is hard for me to grasp as I write this reflection on the coldest day of winter. I can’t see the beauty of God’s creation when I look out at leafless trees, gray skies, and icy covered snow. With the festivities of Christmas getting farther in the past, I miss the beauty and lights. A cruel winter is all that I can see.

Now as I jump ahead to March 11, I realize that we are in the middle of Lent with Ash Wednesday and the promises of Lenten sacrifices becoming rather laborious. Spring and Easter are still weeks away. While the weather is more promising than the dead of winter, I’m still struggling to find the “joy” and “delight” that Isaiah saw.

Needing positivity and inspiration, I searched for St. Augustine’s quotation, “Faith is to believe what you do not yet see; the reward for this faith is to see what you believe.” Wow! I’ve been looking at winter and Lent all wrong.

The hope of winter is that the leaves will return to the trees very soon. The skies are mostly sunny in Kansas City if I just wait a few days. The icy snow is sheltering the grass for the green of spring.

The hope of Lent is that the Lenten sacrifices are preparations for the depth of Holy Week and the promise of Easter and the Resurrection just twenty days from now. I can make it for less than three weeks with continued prayer, reflection, and Hope,

I pray that my reward is the faith in my belief that God brings to us in the death and resurrection of His beloved son, Jesus the Christ.

Q:  What future hope do I believe lies just beneath the trials and tribulations of today?

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