Lent is an exodus: let us travel it with Mary

Lent is like an exodus. Those who have experienced one in their lives know that it is always difficult. The Hebrews went through this ordeal after their liberation from a state of slavery in Egypt. An exodus is an "exit" in which one must leave one's country, one's family, one's possessions, and one's habits. It is a departure towards adventure, towards the unknown, towards something new. It is a departure to live something else, somewhere else.

The Christian Exodus is a response to God's call as it was for Abraham: "Leave your country, your family and your father's house. Then go to the land that I will show you" (Gen. 12:1). It was the same for Mary and Joseph: "Arise, take the little child and his mother, flee to Egypt..." (Mt 2:13). Thus, the exodus is a flight for various reasons. In this Lenten season, our exodus asks us to flee from evil, from sin.

With Mary, I am invited to this journey of conversion: "Do whatever He tells you!" This is my exodus as a baptized person, to which Christ calls me: "The time is fulfilled, and the Kingdom of God has come near: be converted and believe in the Gospel" (Mk 1:15).

Jesus invites us to accept the great novelty and reality of the Kingdom of God, which is offered to all. He shows us the road to follow: by converting and believing in the Gospel. In other words, by radically changing one's life and accepting the word of God addressed by Jesus to people of all times.

Following Mary's example, let us begin our exodus journey. Mary was docile to the voice of the Angel of the Lord; she knew that the child was in immediate danger of death. Imagine the pain in her heart... she must leave her country with all the risks that this entailed...! Let us travel with Mary, Mother of Sorrows, on this journey of conversion which requires uprooting, efforts, a strong will, courage, and personal struggle... It is a matter of life! The Life that the Lord gives us.

Christ calls me, with Mary, his Mother, to take another path; to leave the path of evil and sin which can only lead us to peril, to death. For today, it is no longer Herod whom we must fear, but a much more formidable enemy, Satan: "Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour" (1 Peter 5:8).

Mary, Our Lady of Sorrows, experienced so many painful and trying exodus paths during her life, from the escape to Egypt to the Cross, that without fear, under her maternal protection and guidance, we can leave the slavery of sin and live in the Light of Christ.

Source: Missionary Hospitaller Congregation of the Daughters of Our Lady of Sorrows (more commonly known as the Sisters of St. Frai).

Article published on 13/03/2015