Companions on the Journey

Written by Colleen McClain on Ash Wednesday

You are the visible face of the invisible Father.

As I reached the station of the crucifixion, I hesitated before picking up the hammer.  Written on the small piece of wood in my hand were the crosses I carried with me that day—emotional, physical, spiritual burdens.

This “Journey with Jesus” had been deeply personal—sitting silently in the desert; contemplating His transfiguration before me; coming face-to-face with my own brokenness in the Last Supper.  Finally I, and several other parishioners, had arrived at the last station in the courtyard.  Was I ready to place my crosses, intimate as they were, before the Lord and my companions?

I glanced at the wooden pieces affixed before me and took in their rawness. Even among the few gathered that day, the burdens I carried were hardly mine alone.  Each of us had been broken in remarkably similar ways; so too had Christ before us.

Today, we join Him and each other on the Lenten journey.  We examine our hearts; we take up our crosses; we go forth to these forty days cast as a common humanity.

The dust that I am and to which I shall return feels easily lost to the slightest breeze.  Yet I imagine Jesus in our midst as we celebrate Mass today, pushing us ever-so-gently together, reassuring us that not one of us carries the cross in isolation.

That swept together into the Body of Christ, awash in God’s mercy, this very dust will ground us in the most profound of ways.

Dust forming the earth on which we will stand at the end of our journey, at the foot of the cross.

Dust from which distractions are milled away, allowing the desire for a heart that is changed and pure to grow.

Dust as the ashes that mark our foreheads in humility, as we go forth in solidarity with the St. Mary’s community and the entirety of the Body.

St. Paul reminds us in today’s readings that we are ambassadors for Christ.  I pray that I might find the strength to raise my eyes outward as I look inward this Lent; to sincerely gaze into those of friends and strangers alike—ready to find eyes full of hope or fear, hearts struggling with their own crosses yet ready to say a prayer in return for me.

Together we will be tempted in the desert; together, witness Him transfigured; together, break bread in memory.  And with space in our hearts and lives for God to enter in, together we will be transformed. For today, it’s the first step that matters.

Behold, now is a very acceptable time;
behold, now is the day of salvation.

Suggestion for Prayer and Questions for Reflection:
Read Pope Francis’s Prayer for the Jubilee Year of Mercy.  How will you be Christ’s visible face in the world this Lent?
How will you make space in your heart, and in your life, for this Lenten journey to change you?  Who will walk with you on this journey?

Colleen McClain
Colleen is a PhD student in the Michigan Program in Survey Methodology at the Institute for Social Research.  When not at ISR, she can still usually be found on Thompson Street—serving with the GRAD/YP and Small Church Community leadership teams or the noon choir at SMSP—or taking up residence at a coffee shop a few blocks away.
Email: colleen.a.mcclain@gmail.com