From Darkness to light: Transitioning from Lent to Easter

The seasons of the church’s liturgical year very often play out as a rhythmic from-to transition. The shift from Lent to Easter is no exception. For 40 days, we experience the quietude of reflection, repentance, and renewal that define the Lenten season, and then via the Triduum abruptly shift to the thunderous celebratory crescendo of Easter and the hope and joy it signals. From ashes to fire. Darkness to light. Winter to spring. Deep sleep to a feeling of tingling aliveness.

We are physically reminded of Easter each year in the form of the longer daylight hours and warming temperatures (much earlier this year!) that mark the transition of seasons – our exodus from darkness to light. As we celebrate the newness of spring and its palpable sense of new life, Easter reminds us of our need for renewal, in our lives, in our relationships, and in our world. Pope Francis offers us a particularly powerful message:

The Lord awakens so as to reawaken and revive our Easter faith. Let us not quench the wavering flame that never falters and let us allow hope to be rekindled. [We must] find the courage to create spaces where everyone can recognize that they are called, and to allow new forms of hospitality, fraternity, and solidarity.

In this season of renewal and new life, grace and astonishing love, I extend the blessings and hope of Easter to our entire Prep community!

Jon McGee

Head of School

Saint John’s Preparatory School