Reflecting on Hope and Resurrection

Daniel Murray, OFM Features

As Holy Week approaches, a friar in Boston looks back at the time that has passed since the start of Lent.

I’ll blame it on age!

It seems like yesterday that I was making the sign of the cross on worshippers’ foreheads – reminding them to believe in the Good News of Jesus. Ash Wednesday has come and gone. Spring days are getting longer. We Christians have passed through the “tunnel months” of winter to a springtime of hope. Lent is slipping away. Easter is quickly approaching. Christian hope reminds us to be positive.

It’s not too late. We can awaken in ourselves the hope of resurrection. We pray, we fast, we give alms.

  • We can pray for our nation that is so divided. We can work with our representatives to give hopeful solutions to our immigrant sisters and brothers who are truly Lenten people. They experience suffering and abandonment by many of our government leaders. Let us unite with them.
  • We can fast from negativity and blaming which is so prevalent in our nation and in society. Let us speak of positivity and praising.
  • We can give alms in our own private and quiet way to those who need financial help.

I think fondly of two friars formerly at the Shrine who quietly spent a considerable amount of their allowance each month “feeding the poor.” Theirs was a silent witness. They really understood Jesus’ command: “Let not your right hand know what your left is doing.”

Reflecting on a verse from St. Paul’s Letter to the Romans, Pope Francis highlights how the season before Easter must be a time to “welcome Christ’s victory over sin and death into our lives,” and attract “its transforming power to all of creation.” Let each of us heed the words of our holy Father.

— Br. Daniel, a native of the Bronx, N.Y., has been stationed at St. Anthony Shrine since 2007. The previous reflection published in HNP Today, titled “An Evolving Perspective on Lent,” was written by Kevin Daly, OFM.

Editor’s note: Friars interested in writing a reflection for HNP Today on a timely topic — a holiday, current event, holy day, or other seasonal theme – are invited to contact the HNP Communications Office at communications@hnp.org. Additional reflections by friars can be found on the Spiritual Resources page of HNP.org.

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