I don’t know what’s going on lately. It seems like everyone is hurting in some major way. Mothers are losing babies, ranchers are losing their farms, children are losing parents, people are sick, pets are dying, the skies are crying, women are weeping, and more. It seems like every day it’s a new thing.

My mom would say, “Well it’s lent, that’s how it goes,” and I would spiral into depressive anxiety about God punishing me because my Lenten sacrifices weren’t enough. Last night, broken from the combination of my own struggles with everyone else’s, I came to my knees in tears. I cried, I begged God for comfort for everyone. I begged Him to have a mercy, to see all of us. If you are hurting right now, I prayed for you.

I don’t say this to say “oh I’m so great.” I say this because it was then that it occurred to me that maybe the point of having lent at this time of year was so that Christ could be with us through the hardest times, not the other way around. Maybe He’s not punishing us and sentencing us with misery, but instead sharing our load. Maybe He went to the desert and carried His cross so He could be in the desperation of just-before-spring with us, instead of waving from Resurrection-spring.

Maybe we offer sacrifices, not to appease the angry God, but to join Him in helping everyone else. I’m desperately offering my grief and struggles right now for the others I am hearing who are going through an even more difficult time which I don’t think should even be possible. The suffering that mankind goes through is just horrifying. I’ve been quaking with fear at what this world is capable of, but my cherished Catholic friends remind me-He has won. So I continue to call Him down. Come into the depths of our despair and save us Lord.

THY WILL BE DONE ON EARTH AS IT IS IN HEAVEN.

We believe He is a good God, we believe heaven is paradise, so God bring paradise down to us. Make this our home, for now, keep us safe. Protect us from the sorrow of the world. Give us the strength to share our peace and joy with those who cannot see the way.

Lord have mercy.