I’d like to begin with the responsorial psalm that preceded Claire’s reading: “With the Lord there is mercy.”
I hold on to that, because when I look at the world—at the news, at daily life—mercy can feel in short supply. And yet the psalm assures us: with the Lord there is mercy and fullness of redemption.
Then I turn to John’s Gospel, to Jesus’ words to Martha:
“I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, even if he dies, will live, and whoever lives and believes in me will never die.”
These are not easy words. We hear Martha struggling to understand, and perhaps we do as well. What does it mean to die and yet never die? I come back to this: Jesus himself is the resurrection and the life.
That leads me to Lent, beginning with Ash Wednesday. What if we entered this season aware that it is not only about Jesus’ resurrection, but about our own transformation? That along the way, we are becoming more fully alive in him?
By Easter, perhaps we are not the same as we were—more open, more alive, more deeply rooted in Christ.
Creation reflects this pattern. Animals that hibernate enter a kind of stillness and return to life. A caterpillar gives way to something entirely new—a butterfly. Transformation requires letting go.
So the question becomes: can we allow parts of ourselves to fall away—old habits, fears, attachments—so that new life can emerge?
As we move toward Easter, we are invited to share in Christ’s life even now.
So I return to those words:
With the Lord there is mercy and fullness of redemption.
And:
I am the resurrection and the life…
Can we trust that promise enough to let go and be transformed?
Amen.
– Sister Lesley Block, OP
Sister Lesley recently retired from her work as a counselor at a group residence supporting adults living with mental illness. She now volunteers at Dominican Convent and continues to live out her vocation as an active contemplative.