Dear Friends,
STOP! Take a breath. Do you realize we are already in the first week of Lent? And some of us have experienced a record-breaking blizzard. Where has your focus been? If you remember last week, I said, “Jesus lived His whole life as Lent”. It is an interesting way to look at how you live your Lent and Your Life. Over the past few days, I’ve been trying hard to live Lent daily–making it my lifestyle. Let me tell you it hasn’t been easy. I should have given up candy!
Seriously, how can I imitate Jesus? I decided to take one step at a time, so I continued cultivating a life of prayer. St. Paul said, “Pray always.” I don’t think he meant we needed to be in church all the time or recite prayers constantly; I think he meant to live your life so that it is a constant prayer. Do I strive to make prayer the daily rhythm of my life? Is God part of the equation when I’m making important decisions? Do I pray to know what God’s plans are for me? Do I seek the things that are in line with what will help me develop my relationship with God? Is seeking time for silence part of my life? All these things are not just something we do for Forty Days.
Now this doesn’t happen overnight. Each day, we need to strive to be a little better at living our whole life as Lent. There are setbacks, but what really counts is that we take inventory and start again. We need to do our best, and God will do the rest. I’m finding that I need to consciously remember that God gets the first fruits of my day. Sometimes this can be so hard. My mind races with a list of everything I need to accomplish that day. Slowly and ever so gently, I turn my thoughts to praising God for the gift of another day, for the Sun (Son), rain, snow, the light of a new chance to serve and live my life gratefully. Are we willing to be more intentional with when and how we pray? This Lent, I am working on being more intentional about allowing Scripture to shape my heart, the choices I make, and even my thoughts.
We all need simple ways to accomplish things, so I’m finding the following helpful.
All these actions have Jesus’ way of life written all over them. Why not give them a try?
So again, I ask you: are you living your whole life as Lent, or at least trying to? Don’t give up. I know, for a fact, that if you keep being aware of what you really want to accomplish, you will do it, no matter how long it takes. It is all in the journey.
During this week, take the time to see how you are living and forget this list of things you said you would give up or do.
Till next week,
Sister Theresita
