But more insidiously, it is simply the busyness of contemporary life that lures us into forgetting our identity and our purpose on this earth. In the middle of all this busyness we are tempted never to take the time to ask what it is all about, who is that face in the mirror, why is he (or she) there?

And so in Lent we come to the Cross. We come to the Cross to see what manner of person we should be as baptized Christians. Christ on the Cross is the truest mirror of ourselves, of our identity as Christians, of the one in whose image we were made. Gazing into the Cross we see our true selves and are called to remember. If we do not see ourselves there - and, absolutely, none of us can - we have at least a picture of what, by God's grace, we are called to be. It is our standard and vocation.

Remembrance is crucial to spiritual growth, for if we do not care to look where we have come from, we will not know where we are going. For we have a God with a Cross in his heart, and we must return to Him again. Jesus said, "Do this in remembrance of me." It is our calling to imitate and remember Christ throughout the year, but especially in Lent. We do so to be filled with his presence, to be transformed into a more perfect image of Him, to become Christ to those around us, ambassadors of his love.

Anthony Burton
Bishop of Saskatchewan