As we look down the road taking us toward the Easter Triduum, we might imagine a timeline representing this Creation, from the beginning of time all the way to the second coming of Our Lord. Imagine that the Cross of Christ stands in the center — the erect post or stipes forming the vertical axis of a graph, with the crossbeam or patibulum forming a horizontal axis parallel to the timeline. There is a profound message in this image, for in the central intersection of the Divine (vertical axis) with the Creation (horizontal axis), we find the Paschal mystery of Our Lord’s Death, Burial, Resurrection, and Ascension - a silent but powerful witness to the sanctification of time - past, present, and future.
This second Sunday of Pre-Lent is called Sexagesima, since it falls about 60 days before the Paschal feast. By preparing well during pre-Lent, then allowing Lent to soften our hearts and minds for the experience of Good Friday, Holy Saturday and Easter, we discover that our own time, our lives, are also made holy, or sanctified. A Lenten observance which is well-planned in advance is a great blessing, allowing Christians to follow their Lord to Calvary. It is a time of cleansing, of looking forward with hope, of leaving sin and foolishness behind, and embracing holiness by the grace of God.
Remember that we are preparing to make a pilgrimage ourselves, a virtual pilgrimage to Calvary with Our Lord, in the company of the ancient saints and catechumens. A prepared mind is a great gift in bringing our wayward hearts into submission, enabling us to receive all that Our Lord and his Church offer us as we move through Lent and Holy Week to the culmination of Creation in the Paschal Mystery of Our Lord. May this pre-Lenten Sunday of Sexagesima bring us many opportunities to prepare ourselves for what lies ahead.
Pilgrimage to Canterbury by Ezra Winter
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