Lent Through the Lens of Hope

Presently, we are journeying through the Jubilee Year of Hope. Now is a time set apart for the Lord’s favor; a season of grace and mercy, and an opportunity for unique spiritual growth. Simultaneously, we find ourselves in the solemn season of Lent. At face value, these two liturgical experiences may seem opposed to one another. However, upon closer inspection, I believe they are inextricably linked.

The figure of the Jubilee pilgrim is infused with holy energy. On a mission of hope and healing, the pilgrim reaps the Jubilee graces, steeped in ancient promises. On the other hand, we enter the season of Lent as our eyes meet the suffering Christ. Together, with our Lord, we steal away to the desert for 40 days and nights to prepare for His suffering, passion, and death.

Though one summons images that are, perhaps, lively and thrilling, and the other calls to mind grief and suffering, it seems that the thread which weaves the Jubilee pilgrim and the suffering Jesus together is hope.

The Joyful Sojourner Must Suffer

French priest and spiritual author Fr. Jean C. J. D’Elbee reflected upon the truth that in order to enter heaven, one must first suffer.

"In order to enter into a country as marvelous as Heaven, to appear before the God of infinite purity and beauty, to see Him face-to-face, to participate in the divine nature, to take part in the intimate life of the Holy Trinity … in order to know God as He knows Himself, to love Him as He loves Himself, we must be purified like gold in the crucible; we must have the wedding garment washed by the blood of the Lamb, but washed also in the blood of our souls, which is our tears.”

Fr. D'Elbee’s words invite us to consider that suffering, though desperately painful at times, is a means of purification, a necessary portion of the path that leads us toward eternal splendor. It is through this suffering that we encounter the depths of God's mercy. This is why Lent, a time for suffering, can be a time of such profound intimacy with our Creator.

As we consider what it looks like to be pilgrims of hope, we acknowledge that this journey will certainly be marked with suffering and drenched with tears. But it is precisely in our anguish that we meet Jesus.

Christ: The Pilgrim of Hope

As Jesus takes up His cross and endures this immense suffering on the road to Calvary, is He, too, not a pilgrim of hope? Can we not – should we not – mimic His example? Perhaps the authentic image of a Jubilee pilgrim is picking up our cross with our eyes fixed firmly on what lies beyond the veil. For suffering without an eternal perspective is nothing more than bitter anguish, but with hearts set on heaven, our sorrow takes on new light and our strength is renewed. As Blessed Pier Giorgio Frassati said,

“...Who could bear the burden of this life if there weren’t a prize for suffering, an eternal joy…”

The crosses we carry feel crushing as we sway beneath its weighty wood. It is here in the midst of our pain that He comes to meet us, for we know that our misery attracts His mercy. Bearing His wounds and stained with our blood, He nestles His shoulder next to ours, sharing our burden and offering His strength.

In the midst of agony, we draw courage from hope rooted in Christ’s cross, confident that it is not the end. In fact, it is the blood and water gushing forth from the side of that Lord as He is stretched on that very cross which redeems us. Hope, then, is not a fleeting emotion. It is a voice that echoes the Father’s promise through generations, freeing us to love more fully.

Hope for the Journey

It seems that both the pilgrim’s Jubilee journey and Our Lord’s passion and death summit the same mountain and meet at the same peak, that is, at the Cross.

Though on this Jubilee journey, our feet may sink deeper into the Earth beneath as the present moment demands our participation, may we keep our eyes fixed on heaven, hoping that we, too, will reach paradise. For we can echo with confidence what St. Paul said in his letter to the Romans: …we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not disappoint us…”

This Lent, as we join Christ in His suffering, let us consider how we, too, might carry our crosses with hope. How can we accept our aches, still clinging to the promise of resurrection? In this Lenten Jubilee Year, may we trust that it is through our suffering – in this crucible of love – that we meet Jesus, and He reminds us of our aim, teaching us the chorus of the ancient Roman hymn, “Ave crux, spes unica! Hail the cross, our only hope!”