Perhaps because I spent the latter part of January in the Holy Land, it is hard for me to believe that February 22 and the beginning of Lent is just around the corner.
Whatever else it does, Lent gives us a time to reset. We speak of prayer, almsgiving and fasting as traditional Lenten practices. That doesn’t mean we do these things at Lent and not at other times; these practices should be part of our lives as a normal matter.
However, sometimes the busyness of our lives causes us to lose track, lose our focus on practices that are fundamental to who we are. Lent reminds us of their centrality to us perhaps our prayer has fallen off a bit, maybe gotten a bit rote. Lent is a time to brush ourselves off and recommit ourselves to this path of Christian discipleship.
So, how will you reset? How will you use Lent as a time of recommitment?
As always, there are some wonderful resources to help in that process. Here are some:
The Jesuit Midwest Province has put out a wonderful booklet of reflections for self-guided prayer, which you can download here.
As usual, Creighton Online Ministries has put together an extensive collection of prayers, reflections, audio talks and practices, available here.
Loyola Press’ IgnatianSpirtuality.com offers its contributions to your Lenten prayer here.
St. Thomas More’s Lent retreat in daily living provides daily prayer material and both live and online small group meetings.
And, depending on where you are located and/or your ability to get away, I’ll be offering several Lent opportunities:
Parish Mission for Community of the Good Shepherd in Cincinnati, March 6-8 – The Lenten Journey
Weekend Retreat at Loyola Morristown Jesuit Retreat House, March 24-26, Journey of Sorrow, Journey of Love
Women’s Lent Retreat Day at Christ the King Retreat House in Buffalo MN, March 18; and they have several other lent opportunities available.
There is no shortage of resources. May you have a blessed Lent!
Creo en Dios! 