Lenten Reflection - Liz Boyd
“Morning after morning he opens my ear that I may hear; and I have not rebelled, have not turned back.”
– Isaiah 50:5
When I sat down to read and pray and write this reflection, I thought how can I write a reflection on the Passion of Christ? Not only is it lengthy, but it’s the most important story of our faith! Where would I begin? First I pondered why it’s called The Passion. We typically think of passion as a powerful, compelling emotion or feeling. I may be passionate about my work, or a project, or about a certain style of music. But a little research showed that the Christian definition of the word passion is derived from the Latin pati, which means to suffer, to submit.
Any suffering I’ve ever endured is like a raindrop compared to the ocean of suffering Jesus endured for our salvation. Before he was arrested and put to death, Jesus prayed to his Father “if it is possible, let this cup pass from me; yet, not as I will, but as you will.” I’m sure there are many times in all of our lives when we pray fervently for a particular “cup” of suffering to pass from us. I may pray and pray for a specific thing to happen, and it doesn’t. Or I pray and pray for a specific thing not to happen, and it does anyway. In such times it’s easy to begin to lose faith. But then I remember Jesus’ passion; his immense suffering and submission to his father’s will, and I know that I need to be patient and trust in His will.
The servant of God in today’s first reading from Isaiah must have been a person of prayer. “Morning after morning he opens my ear that I may hear.” When I am struggling with what seems to be unanswered prayers, or struggling to understand God’s will, I try to let go of my will, and open my ears and eyes and heart to where He is leading me. Just in recent weeks I am experiencing God’s plan unfolding in a particular area of my life in ways that are almost opposite of what I was praying for. But it is a direct result of “opening my ear” to something I would not have considered on my own. I’m not rebelling, but embracing God’s answer to my prayer.
-Liz Boyd
