Another springtime. Another Ash Wednesday.

As we stand once more on the threshold of the great journey from Lent to Easter, it is appropriate to pause for a moment and reflect on the meaning of what lies before us.

In Ezekiel 37, we hear God declare his intention to act: “I am going to open your graves, O my people, and bring you up from your graves.” “I will put my Spirit in you and you will live and I will bring you back to your own land.”

This is what lies ahead of us: a journey from death to life, new life in the Spirit.

In Jewish culture of the time, the dead were buried in graves or tombs that were sealed with a heavy stone. When Jesus was raised, the stone was rolled away from his tomb just as previously he had commanded the stone to be rolled away from the grave of Lazarus.

There are areas of deadness in all our lives, parts of ourselves that lie buried beneath the weight of a heart turned to stone, trapped deep in the shadows.

As we pause before embarking on our journey, it is timely to ask ourselves where is there deadness in our lives? What needs to be released from the imprisoning weight of the stone: disappointments, old hurts, anger, fear, our struggle with suffering of all kinds?

What are the wounds in us that need to be healed this Lent? What do we need to bring on this journey to the transfiguring power of the cross?

But more importantly, do we want Jesus to roll away the stone? Are we prepared to let God act in our lives, raising what is dead to life, life in His Spirit, releasing us from darkness and oppression?

In a recent Sunday gospel, we heard a leper say to Jesus: “if you want to, you can cure me.” Lent is a time when we turn this around so that God now says to us: “I will cure you, if you want me to.” Do we want God to cure us? Will we surrender our wounds to His healing?

Ash Wednesday is an exciting time. God wants to act in us. He will bring us up from the grave, He will roll away the stone, He will lead us from darkness to light, from death to life. All things are possible in this new life of the Spirit.

We stand on the threshold of this great journey. God wants to roll away the stone that traps us and holds us back. Will we let him?