As Easter draws closer I become more hopeful.  Lent is often a difficult journey for me as I confront my fears and inadequacies, with which all of us as human beings are burdened.  The difficult stock taking begins on Ash Wednesday but I can feel the slow ascent of my spirit as we approach the joyous magic of the Resurrection on Easter.

I believe that all of us Christians feel the twist in our stomachs of the suffering of our fellow human beings.  I know that I feel it especially acutely this time of year as I wonder whether I am doing my part to help alleviate it.  Am I kind to my neighbor?  Do I sacrifice enough?  Do I avoid Jesus’s warning in the Gospel today to avoid self glorification?  I know I don’t rate a perfect score.  Some days I don’t even earn a C minus.

But perpetual despair about my failings is no good either.  I can’t lock myself in my room and not engage my fellow human beings, even though I know that I will make mistakes.  What good am I to God and my neighbor then?  What if Abraham had said to God:  “Please, pick someone else.”?

As I walk into my office here at Creighton I usually look up at the cross on the steeple at the top of St. John’s church.  It gives me courage in the face of my fears and inadequacies.  And I know that Easter is coming.