Kathryn Hogan
This guest post was written by Verbum Director Kevin Bagley, DMin.
I pray that your Lent was productive. The forty days of Lent are our opportunity to examine closely our relationships with each other and our relationship with God. Our interpersonal relationships reach across boundaries and peoples. They reach out to those on the margins of society. They reach out to our loved ones, to strengthen and improve our relationships with those closest to us. These are our horizontal relationships.
During Lent we should have worked on our relationship with God as well. Praying, fasting, making sacrifices, and striving to understand how blessed we truly are. Since we refer to Heaven as being “up there,” this is the vertical relationship.
When we place our horizontal relationships together with our vertical relationships, we have the image of a cross. What is at the center of the cross? Jesus, who lovingly paid the ultimate price for our sins, by sacrificing his life for us. Where do we find true love? Hanging on the crucifix, in Jesus, our Lord.
As you think about the sacrifice and the love God has for each of us, think also about the great gifts he left behind: the Sacraments. These outward signs of His love give us the grace to be more like Him. The more often we receive the Sacraments, the more loving, kind and compassionate we become. We become more like Jesus when we receive the Sacraments.
Together we experience the saving and redeeming power of our Lord and share in the Eucharistic celebration that brings us the grace to become more like Christ. The more we receive the Eucharist the more we grow in our belief, our trust and our love for God and our neighbor. Alone we cannot achieve the greatness as a person nor as a Catholic. We need each other to share in our joys and our sorrows.
This Easter season, may you feel the love and compassion God has for you. May you receive that love into your hearts and homes. May you share that love with everyone you encounter. Peace be with you! Alleluia, Alleluia!
Verbum
