Do I remember and honor my dead family and friends?
The past few years have been filled with heartbreaking news — the Covid-19 pandemic, natural disasters, mass shootings, economic hardships, and the war that continues to be waged in Ukraine. The death tolls from each of these events are reported and it is easy to be overwhelmed by the number of people that lost their lives and the impacts of those deaths on their family, friends, and communities.
As the new year begins, I am always excited to open my new calendar and stare at the blank pages, imagining all of the wonderful events and activities that will fill the new year. I start to write down upcoming activities, appointments, and reminders, and suddenly those blank pages are filled and I become overwhelmed with all that I believe I need to accomplish. I look at these filled pages and become tired, before I really begin the new year.
Recently I was in a group of trusted people receiving some feedback. A question I asked to them was how to get through feeling stuck when asked a question during a spiritual direction session. One person invited me to dig a bit deeper around the fear of feeling disappointment in not responding how the directee might expect. Another person suggested I get comfortable with the uncomfortable.
God‘s presence is in all of creation and speaks to us in more ways that we can imagine. One specific way to become familiar with God’s language is by contemplating scripture, especially the gospels.
Better yet, are you questioning if you should even bother to prepare? As I spiritually mature, I’m learning the error of my ways and the diligence it takes to be in alignment with God. Spending time in prayer and reflection draws us towards authenticity. By examining our conscience, we become aware of the burdens we carry that weigh us down when we don’t have God as our center.
Ash Wednesday, March 2, 2022, is just two weeks away. Have you started contemplating how you will enter this penitential season and spend 40 days uniting your heart with Jesus’? Through the good works of prayer, fasting and almsgiving, God prunes our hearts as we are united to Christ and his suffering. These practices give us the strength to resist sin and follow the counter cultural path of love. If we open our heart and hear God’s word, we learn how Jesus, exposed in his humanity, rejects sin when confronted with temptations and seeks solace in God the Father. This serves as an example for us in our own personal deserts.
There are many great resources out there to help guide your Lenten journey. Here are a few to explore to begin preparing your heart to determine what is best for you in journey through Lent:
Blessed is She invites us to travel along the road of our interior poverty this Lent and to embrace our utter dependence on God with All She Had Lent 2022 Devotional. In this fresh devotional, we will find ourselves gently guided through six poverties: of promise, of desire, of security, poverty of hope, poverty of control, poverty of intimacy and poverty of everything.
Walking with Purpose helps to prepare your heart for the triumph of resurrection through several short, powerful bible studies:
Looking to feel revived and refreshed as you grow in the knowledge that you are loved? Choose Living In The Father’s Love.
Need to be awakened to the reality of who you are in Christ? Choose Fearless and Free.
Desire to learn how all Scripture points to Jesus, and recognize and appreciate God’s plan for your own life? Choose Beholding His Glory.
Want to counter feeling weighed down by a culture that all too often leaves us feeling empty and dissatisfied? Choose Beholding Your King.
Dynamic Catholic continues their Best Lent Ever series and you can sign up for free. This year, for the first time ever, Dynamic Catholic is offering two options for Best Lent Ever. Every day, you will receive two short, practical, and inspiring videos in your inbox, each representing a pathway leading toward a better version of you and a closer relationship with God. Why did they double up? Well, the world has changed. We have changed. And to offer a truly transformative experience, they developed two pathways designed specifically to meet us where we are, no matter where we are in your spiritual journey.
Good Catholic invites us to deepen our relationship with Christ this lent. Being a Christian means imitating Christ. But how can we imitate Him if we don’t personally know Him? Discover Jesus’ works, loves, joys, and sorrows in The Life of Christ so that you can follow Him more closely. Change Your Life By Studying His. You can learn more here.
We must consider how to rouse one another to love and good works.
Hebrews 10:23-24
Pope Francis says, the word of God consoles and encourages us. At the same time, it summons us to conversion, challenges us, frees us from the bondage of our selfishness. For His word has the power to change our lives and to lead us out of darkness into the light.
Let’s use this Lent to walk further into the light finding God’s goodness!
Today’s post, on this second Sunday of Lent, is written by a guest contributor Melanie Boutiette. Melanie is my sister, mother figure, and friend. I am pleased to introduce you to her and an article from her blog Just Beloved, Words of Encouragement for you!
I love to garden. I love digging my hands in the rich soil, planting beautiful flowers, and transforming a once barren area into a beautiful bed or landscape. The whole yard is filled with a variety of flowers and plants. I especially love the front of the house. I have an English garden there that once was just an ugly plot of ground after disease destroyed all the bushes and plants. To look at my yard right now in the dead of winter, you cannot tell that I love to garden.
Return to me with your whole heart for I am gracious and merciful
During this third Sunday of Lent as I continue wandering in the desert of my soul, I am very grateful for God’s endless mercy and graciousness. As the Master Gardener pulls the sinful weeds that crowd out the flowers of beauty, my Creator is pruning my heart for beauty to burst forth! Ouch!
Smitten With Goodness 