I suppose anything could become routine. I yawn at Holy Mass sometimes. But when I read a guy who said this, frankly, my first thought was, "Well, your liturgy has a gaping hole in it." He's a Protestant, in fact. Here's the truth: Easter as a Reformed Protestant is borderline pointless. It is boring. You can only think about Christ's victory over death so many different ways, before you say, in true Protestant fashion, "I know this already." You can't, in a strict theological sense, really live by the Scriptural injunction to suffer as He did, to die as he did, because the point of being Protestant is to say, "Jesus did all that for you and me, so we don't need this big to-do about seasons, and alleged mystical participations."
Not everyone is, let's say, as sensitive as I am, but I feel the weight of the crosses we all bear during this time. Bodily, emotionally, the whole thing. I told Fred Noltie about this one year, and I asked him if I was crazy. He said something like, "Nope, you're not alone." If you love Jesus, you will get the Cross, and especially during Lent. God willing, we will feel this weight along with mortifications freely chosen. Maybe not.
I hope indeed that many separated brethren observe Lent, however incongruous it may be with their own communities, and in so doing, be moved to reconsider those things which caused that separation. Because when we truly suffer and die with Christ, we will rise with Him, and it's only fitting we should celebrate, and loudly.
Not everyone is, let's say, as sensitive as I am, but I feel the weight of the crosses we all bear during this time. Bodily, emotionally, the whole thing. I told Fred Noltie about this one year, and I asked him if I was crazy. He said something like, "Nope, you're not alone." If you love Jesus, you will get the Cross, and especially during Lent. God willing, we will feel this weight along with mortifications freely chosen. Maybe not.
I hope indeed that many separated brethren observe Lent, however incongruous it may be with their own communities, and in so doing, be moved to reconsider those things which caused that separation. Because when we truly suffer and die with Christ, we will rise with Him, and it's only fitting we should celebrate, and loudly.
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