Circle of Days: Lent 5
Guest Post by Isabel Anders
“A tree had destroyed us; a tree now brought us life.”—St. Theodore of Studios.
St. Mary of Egypt
As we draw nearer to Holy Week, we are reminded of how Christ, in being lifted up on the cross, would gather all people to himself to raise them from earth to heaven. John Calvin, in his Commentary on the Gospel According to John, reflects that “the meaning undoubtedly is that the cross will be, as it were, a chariot, by which he shall raise all” people along with himself, to his Father. “Though he alludes to the form of his death, yet he means generally that his death will not be a division to separate him” from us—but that it will be an additional means of “drawing earth upwards toward heaven.”
In the Eastern Orthodox tradition, the Fifth Sunday in Lent is dedicated to fifth-century St. Mary of Egypt. She is remembered first as a prostitute in Alexandria, living a life of disobedience to God. But having heard of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre housing Christ’s tomb, she joined with pilgrims taking a ship to the Holy Land.
However, when she arrived at the door of the sacred tomb, a hand blocked her entrance. This seeming rejection led her to put faith in Christ and experience a dramatic conversion. She soon crossed over into the desert wilderness and would live there forty years in repentance, prayer, and obedience. She had been “lifted up” to newness of life.
Thomas à Kempis reminds us that: “There will always be many who love Christ’s heavenly kingdom, but few who will bear his cross. Jesus has many who desire consolation, but few who care for adversity. He finds many to share his table, but few who will join him in fasting. Many are eager to be happy with him; few wish to suffer anything for him. Many will follow him as far as the breaking of bread, but few will remain to drink from his passion.”
As the circle of our days takes us through these final Lenten weeks, we arrive at the hour to come in which Jesus’ life will be poured out for the redemption of the world. Let us continue to walk with him through these difficult corridors of pain and submission, whatever we are facing in our personal lives, keeping ever before our eyes the hope of glory.
—Isabel Anders has coauthored Circle of Days, Years B and C with Paula Franck.
