The Lord is With Us as We Experience Sorrow and Pain

T he fifth Sunday of Lent begins the time of Passiontide. The readings focus on Jesus’ death on the first Good Friday. Jesus embraces The Cross. He came into this world knowing that He was to die to achieve the victory of salvation. Passiontide reviews the movement of the Lord. A movement into suffering. A movement into sorrow. A movement into dying for our salvation.

In today’s world, we are experiencing a time of suffering, confusion and pain. It is a time that we can not entirely control. We may be frightened in ways that were completely unexpected. Many of us may be overwhelmed and indeed, may not know where to turn. We are unclear when the crisis will end.

We must be careful! It is a time when many of us may lose themselves. For some, they may experience prayer that is desperate, in a sense that prayer is not marked by faith, but just a neediness and hope there is someone listening. This is why Passiontide is important for us. Passiontide, a time of focus on the Lord and His Cross. The Lord gives meaning to the sense of loss and sorrow that we are all struggling with today.

We must remember that our lives are marked with the presence and power of the Word of God, Who loves us and shares our sorrow and shares our pain. Our Lord unites with us. Hear more about this Spiritual Communion with Our Lord in this Gospel and Homily audio that was recorded on the day before the Fifth Sunday of Lent.

Consolator: Dutch painter: Carl Bloch: 1834 – 1890

St. Paul in 2 Corinthians 1: 5: “For as the sufferings of Christ abound in us, so our consolation also aboundeth by Christ.”