Preparing for the Paschal Mystery
A Lenten Reflection by our Board of Trustees- written by Trustee Jeff Walsh

The Church’s liturgical seasons shape how we understand the world and our place within it.
Lent prepares us through repentance and discipline, while Easter proclaims the victory of Christ
over death. In Catholic education, these seasons are lived not only in the classroom, but also in
the daily habits of family life, prayer, and service within our Northern community. This reflection
is offered to help us enter more deeply into the Paschal Mystery, which is at the heart of our
Christian faith.

Beginning on Ash Wednesday and concluding on the evening of Holy Thursday, Lent calls the
faithful to deeper conversion through prayer, fasting, and almsgiving. As we partake in the
Church’s penitential forty-day season of preparation for the Paschal Mystery (Passion, Death,
Resurrection and Ascension of Jesus Christ), we are urged to attend to Sacred Scripture,
approach the Sacrament of Penance and Reconciliation, and renew our baptismal commitment
in obedience to Christ (CCC 1254).

The Paschal Mystery—Paschal derived from the Hebrew Pesach, meaning Passover—is
revealed throughout Scripture. In the Old Testament, the Passover commemorates God’s
deliverance of Israel from slavery through the sacrifice of a spotless lamb. This saving act
foreshadows Jesus Christ our Savior. 

As John the Baptist proclaims, “Behold, the Lamb of God,
who takes away the sin of the world” (John 1:29). Jesus fulfills the Passover in His self-offering
on the Cross and institutes the Eucharist at the Last Supper (Holy Thursday), commanding His
disciples: “Do this in memory of me” (Luke 22:19).

The forty days of Lent follow a biblical pattern of preparation and renewal. Scripture presents
forty days as a time of testing and transformation: Moses on Mount Sinai, Elijah’s fast, Jonah’s
call to repentance, and Jesus’ own forty days in the wilderness. We can discern that this pattern
of discipline precedes freedom, obedience precedes authority, and sacrifice precedes glory.
Lent is not a retreat from the world, but a time of reordering our lives so that Christ may be at
the center.

Through the Eucharist—from the Greek eucharistia, meaning thanksgiving—Christ gives us true
spiritual food. He teaches, “Those who eat my flesh and drink my blood abide in me, and I in
them” (John 6:56). The Eucharist is both a sacrifice of thanksgiving and a foretaste of the
heavenly banquet (CCC 1360). In the liturgy, Christ’s saving work is made present so that our
lives may be conformed to His. As Paul writes in Romans, “Do not be conformed to this world,
but be transformed by the renewing of your minds, so that you may discern what is the will of
God—what is good and acceptable and perfect” (Romans 12:2).

Our Baptism draws us into this mystery. Through it, we are made children of God, members of
Christ’s Body, and temples of the Holy Spirit. Each Easter, the Church renews baptismal
promises, calling us again to live as disciples of Jesus. As St. Peter reminds us, we are “a
chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation” (1 Peter 2:9), sent to bear witness to Christ in the
world.

Catholic schools support this mission, but faith begins in the home. Vatican II teaches that the
family is the domestic church, where parents are the primary educators of the Christian life.

Through daily acts of love, prayer, and service, the home becomes a place of refuge that mirrors
the love of Christ.

We are all at different stages in our faith, and Lent may look different for each of us. Whether
through deeper family prayer, more intentional participation in the Church’s liturgical life, fasting
and abstinence, or preparing for the Sacrament of Reconciliation, Lent offers each of us a path
toward renewal. Whatever form it takes, this season of testing and transformation prepares us
for the ultimate victory of Christ over death.

As Lent gives way to Easter, we proclaim the ancient Paschal greeting spoken by the angel at
the empty tomb:
Christ is risen! (Matthew 28:6)
 

With the hope and joy of our living reality, may our response be a resounding: He is risen
indeed!

Heavenly Father, may all our thoughts, words, and actions be pleasing in your sight.
Bless us in this season of Lent, that the life and nature of Christ may grow deeper within us.
We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
God, for ever and ever. Amen.