Candice's Comments

The season of Lent begins with Ash Wednesday on March 5. During the Season of Lent we travel with Jesus on a journey. We start in the wilderness – away from the things that normally comfort and sustain us – and continue in the steps of Jesus’ ministry and through to the last days of his life.

At this – like maybe no other – time of year, we are invited to examine our spiritual lives and identify those parts of ourselves that need improvement:

· Where are we falling short?

· What relationships need attention?

· How do we dig deeper into our relationship with God?

· What parts of our lives have become too much about us and

not enough about God?

Trappist monk Thomas Merton said,

“The whole Christian life is a life in which…the more we progress,

the poorer we get so that the man who has progressed most,

is totally poor – he has to depend directly on God.

He’s got nothing left in himself.”

When was the last time you heard someone say they wanted to be “totally poor”? The human tendency is to accomplish, acquire, and ascend – always looking to gain, not to become poor. Merton’s “totally poor” is a life that’s progressed the most, a life that’s getting closer to God and further away from worries about money, possessions, and power.

As we begin Lent, we find ourselves at the edge of  “wilderness time,” at the edge of total and complete dependence on God for everything we need.

Scary? Yes.

Completely and totally fulfilling in the spiritual sense? Absolutely.

Entering and participating in a Lent that empties us of selfish desires and temptations and puts our complete faith and trust in God isn't easy. Even the disciples who were closest to Jesus didn't always understand.

So, in the wilderness, we need not despair when we don’t get everything right. But we are called to put an intense focus on our relationship with God and how we show God to others in our lives. Our progress on this journey won’t be measured in success, but by how empty we become, how much room we are able to make for God in our lives.

                                                                                                                                             

Grateful to be on the Lenten journey with you,

Candice