Cactus and Sand

The theme for our Saint Joan of Arc Lenten Journey this year is Walking with Jesus.  Our parish Liturgy Committee suggests to us that it would be helpful to view the weeks of Lent as a time of pilgrimage, a time of following in the footsteps of the Lord, and, most importantly, as a time to experience the Lord Jesus walking alongside of us, or better carrying us. In the Bible, the desert is a very complex ecosystem.  It can be a place of testing and trial, a place of temptation and danger.  It can also be a place of quiet solitude, of closeness to God, of freedom from distractions, a world of beauty brought to brilliant life by the grace of God.  Using our imaginations we can envision in the desert an oasis of shade, cool, refreshing water, a place for the intimate conversation with God that we call prayer.

The theme of “Walking with Jesus” also highlights the importance of trust in God and surrender to the loving will of God for each of us.  Walking with and not running away from Jesus will allow us to discover our true selves as Jesus reveals it to us.  He will teach us about Himself and why we are here and what is the meaning of life and where we are going. It will be a pilgrimage of sacred places, people and events that have shaped us and helped us to become the disciples we are today. This journey of self discovery during Lent will encourage us to look soberly at our faults and failings but more importantly to see them in the context of God’s forgiveness and mercy.  The desert is a place of truth and a place of grace that will set us free from fear and illusion.

Two symbols will be prominent in our Lenten church environment:  sand and cactus.  The sand might remind us of how fleeting and transitory our lives are, as they often seem to slip away like grains of sand. The sand might also teach us of how immeasurable is the grace of God such that it cannot be numbered.  Indeed, as the famous French novelist Georges Bernanos so eloquently put it at the end of The Journal of A Country Priest, “ALL IS GRACE”.

The cactus, too, has a degree of ambiguity and multiple symbolism.  We know that the cactus can give us painful splinters and thus is a reminder of the inevitable hurts and suffering that come with our humanity. The cactus also blooms beautifully during the night and reminds us of our own, often hidden beauty that is God’s gift to us in our creation and redemption. The cactus, finally, provides life-giving water stored in its interior that can make the difference between life and death for the desert pilgrim. This water is an apt symbol of the “Living Water” of His saving, refreshing grace that Jesus gave to the woman at the well and that rescues us from spiritual death.

May we “Journey with the Lord” during this time of sacred Lenten pilgrimage and may we emerge from the desert as John the Baptist and Jesus did —-on fire for the Word and the Will of God that bring us true liberation and freedom.

– Msgr. Michael D. McGraw