03/27/2020
A few months ago I purchased a special candle holder for our family to use during Lent from a catholic gift shop. The idea behind it is simple: it is to mimic an Advent wreath, only instead of four candles there are six (4 purple, 1 pink for Laetare Sunday, and one red for Good Friday/Holy Saturday) and instead of evergreen branches there is a cross draped in purple linen. I carefully unboxed the fragile holder on Ash Wednesday and Jeffery and I explained this new tradition our family was going to start to our children. Everything was going great, and the kids have really been enjoying lighting the candles with our meals and counting down the weeks until Easter. And then today as I was disassembling yet another fort the kids had made using the dining room table and chairs, I found this under a quilt: our new special wreath and candles completely broken. It must have fallen into the jumble of blankets as they were building their “hide out”, because they hadn’t even realized what they had done until we were cleaning up. I half expected myself to feel mad, or at least very disappointed that this new (and relatively expensive) devotional had been broken, but I honestly just felt tired…
Sisters, each year during Lent the church and Christ Himself invites us to enter into the desert and prepare our hearts to understand the true joy of what it means to be an Easter people, and OH BOY does this Lent feel like a desert! Illnesses, job insecurities, school closures, canceled masses, state mandated quarantining, death… The last few weeks have been like something out of a dystopian movie, and it appears it’s going to be a while longer before we’re out on the other side. But, there is another side, and there is beauty even in this breaking.
As we wearily make our way through these last weeks of Lent and uncertainty, I pray that you are able to find and be the beauty for others. If you’re feeling down, reach out to a friend through phone or text. If you’re going on a walk through your neighborhood, be sure to wave to those you see. If you have some beautiful flowers blooming in your yard, pick a handful and drop them on a porch for a neighbor or friend. Check in on those who may be having a hard time getting essentials for themselves, and if you yourself need help getting groceries or necessities delivered to your home please call me directly and I will be sure we find a way to get you what you need. We have had a rough few weeks, and there are a few more on the horizon. But we also have each other, and that’s saying something!
Tonight after I tucked the kids in bed and did a little picking up, my eyes found their way back to our poor broken candle holder. I did my best to straighten up the cross without completely snapping it off of the base, and later I will figure out a way to cut the candles so we can still use them for the next few weeks. It’s looking pretty sad at the moment… but something tells me that next year when I pull that ragged looking cross out of the box and put fresh candles into the holders, I’m going to really remember this Lent. The Lent that broke us open and gave us scars. The Lent that almost broke us, but instead made us stronger. The Lent that helped us to truly understand the gift of community and the Church and the resurrection.
We are an Easter people, and Alleluia is our song… and I can’t wait to sing it with you in mass again soon!
All of my love and prayers are with you!!!
President Emily Sandoval
