Lenten Meditations- Part 1

When I give conferences and lead retreats in my line of work, I look for the right thoughts that will give people something worthwhile to consider. As Lent begins I want to offer some insights I have gleaned from my ten-year tenure in catechetical work and retreat ministry. I want to offer them humbly as small pearls for meditation. Please use them as you see fit, like small steps on Jacob’s ladder which raises the mind to divine things. May your Lent be blessed with joy and eternal bliss.

#1 Beginning Again

New beginnings. Lent is beginning again for us Catholics. Whether this is our first time in Lent or our fiftieth year of Lent we are on this journey again. There is an old monastic saying that says “What we do daily we do dully unless we do it deeply.” Again, what is done daily is done dully unless we do it deeply. The daily habits we have, the things we do again and again, consistently become mundane and dull, unless we do them deeply with intention. We can renew our Lenten practices with new faith and vigor. This is the Year of Hope, Jubilee in 2025. Let us take this time to make Lent the most important thing for us this year. I encourage you to recommit yourself to God this Lent and see it as a rare opportunity, one that may never come again. Life is a gift, and Lent is a renewal of spiritual life. Amen.

#2 Time to Divine

We return back in the desert again. Jesus went out into the desert in Judea to prepare for his great ministry and mission. We are called to the desert, a place of sincere repentance and renewal. John of the Cross wrote that the desert we can go to is our interior lives as Christ’s followers. We can gain more from going deeper into our own souls. This means that we must be ready to go into our souls more deeply without holding back. At times we are invited by fate to look at our lives and see what we can do to make them better and realign our values with Christ.

Reflection Question:

Are you ready to give a short amount of time, say 15 minutes in the morning and evening, to meet Christ again in silence? You will find him waiting to meet you there.

#3 The Beautiful Word ‘AND’

Christianity is beautiful. Jesus is our Savior. He works all things for the greater good. He Himself is the greatest good who leads all things back to His Father, the source of all goodness. What is beautiful is that our faith isn’t limited by either/or thinking, choosing one good thing over another. We are Christian and Catholic, faithful and free, holy and still happy. The one thing we do no compromise on is sin. So, I ask this question of you as Lent begins again:

How do you embrace the amazing AND of Christianity in your own Catholic spirituality?

#4 Finding Your Hedgehog

The wise say that we find our calling where our needs and God’s will come together. It seems too simple and yet it is so true. God calls all people to holiness. He calls you to accept his love and mercy right now in your life. Gurus and lifestyle coaches can make things overly complicated. Many things are complicated, yet God’s love is simple. Holiness is embracing it. Isaiah Berlin wrote that a fox can do many things, and yet it is the hedgehog who only needs to do one thing to evade the fox; roll into a ball and put out his defenses. Then it is safe. We all need a “hedgehog concept,” something that is simple and summarizes our own approach to life. When our passion, skills, and living come together in this way, we are happy and blessed to be what we are called to be as children of God.

Questions:

What is your simple concept or vision of where God calls you to shine in the Christian life?

What will the “hedgehog” idea be for you to do in your spiritual life?

#5 Confronting the Cross

You confront brutal facts to get anywhere meaningful in life. How we think about the harder parts of life determines how we face reality. We can linger in denial or a false sense of naïve optimism instead of accepting reality and learning from it. A better way of thinking is to face reality with determination and realistic hope. It is a disservice that society does when it whitewashes hard things and puts them in a hermetically sealed bag. Let the reality of Jesus’ Cross speak to your heart this Lent. Can you face its pain? Will you embrace the hope in new life to come?

Questions:

How do you confront the brutal reality of the Cross? How do you think about it?

# 6 Attitude toward Life

Jim Collins is one of the best writers you will find on business. He wrote about the greatest American companies, and he discovered that the best companies and leaders knew how to make a good return on luck. Luck being the hand that they were dealt. Faith isn’t business, and some people have better circumstances than others. We can still believe that we can make the best of our circumstances. All of us can know God is equipping us with the strength we need to grow through any experience. Our faith in Him allows us to go through any experience and trust in Him, who nourishes us in the Sacraments, and always meets us in the Church on life’s path.

Questions:

How do you respond to your luck in life? How do you view what life has thrown at you this Lent? Allow God to teach you through your experiences.