Celebrating family life | Seasonal Reflections
I have a hazy school memory from sixty years ago. The teacher used a strategy that involved students standing around the room shoulder to shoulder. The teacher posed a question to each student, in turn, about something we had studied. If they answered correctly, they stayed in their place. An incorrect answer resulted in a trek to the end of the line to wait for another turn.
When it was time to change our seats, desks were assigned according to our “class place.” First seats in the rows to students at the front of the line, the next group, last seats in the rows. These valued seats permitted getting up to collect and distribute materials. In a classroom with many students, being able to move about to perform a service was rewarding. I don’t remember ever having a front seat. I was not ready for the insight that progress in learning was connected to study and preparation.
“You know when I sit and stand; you understand my thoughts from afar.”
(Psalm 139:2)
Lent can remind us that as the Lord’s disciples, we are always learning. There is a phrase in education, “lifelong learning.” I think this applies well to our faith life. As we know from our friendships, our marriages, and families, we can always learn something new about the other. With a little “study and preparation,” over time, relationships grow – faith deepens.
Our faith shapes how we view our common humanity, our families, our place in society, and our mission in the world.
By Jesus’ saving action, by His Cross and Resurrection, we are all related; we are redeemed together by the love of Christ. Christian love expresses itself with whom we stand, whom we forgive, for whom we have compassion, for whom we advocate, essentially, whom we serve. We stand in loving service to all we meet. The words and actions of Jesus teach us.
“Standing by the cross of Jesus were his mother and his mother’s sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary of Magdala.” (John 19:25)
The community, the family of faith, “standing by the cross,” is who we are. We are reconciled to God by His love for us. I think that throughout our lives, we are learning what this means.
As we progress through Lent, let us pray as a family to ask the Lord to help us continue to learn His way of love.