To dwell in the Lenten desert and make it bloom requires that we indulge in neither guilt nor vainglorious fantasizing, but struggle to know ourselves as we are. In this process we will not escape sadness and pain nor joy and hope.    – Kathleen Norris

The Lenten Season provides us an opportunity for deep introspection. It can serve as a yearly invitation to come closer to God and to look at our lives, not to condemn or criticize ourselves more harshly but to identify any blockages or obstacles that keep us from God. As we look at such obstructions, we can gently move them away and come closer to the Love that gives us life, the Love whose victory we celebrate on Easter.

So in many ways, Lent offers us a gift – a time for contemplation and self-examination, and the possibility of drawing closer to God. Although self-scrutiny is part of the process, we should not sit too long with guilt or shame about our wrongs, our faults. That would not fit with Christ’s Gospel message about love, mercy, and new life.

Perhaps during the Lenten Season, we can identify the parts of our lives where life does not flourish. Then we can work to transform this wilderness into a place where it will bloom, a place where we can invite God in to stay.

We may find that striving to be a disciple, a follower of God can be difficult work – more difficult than we expected it to be. It demands a life of compassion, prayer, and forgiveness. So we will want to invest our lives with as much hope, courage, and strength as possible.

At the last Supper in the Upper Room, Jesus said, ‘Unless you allow me to wash your feet, you have no part in me.’ ‘I have set you an example. If you know these things, you are blessed if you do them.’ He also said, ‘One of you will betray me.’  In the Garden of Gethsemane, he asked his disciples, ‘Can you stay awake with me? Are you asleep? Could you not watch one hour with me?’

During this Lenten Season, let us open our hearts to Jesus’ words. Let us look at the obstructions in our lives that keep us from flourishing, from blooming, from feeling the presence of the Divine in our everyday living. Let us ask ourselves if we will allow Jesus to take our dirty feet and our ‘dirty lives’ into his hands and to cleanse them? Will we deny, betray, or abandon him?

Divine Creator, thank you for sending your son to earth – not to condemn us, but to save us and redeem us. May we be worthy of this gift. During this time of Lent help us to remove any obstacles blocking the way to you. May we not deny, betray, or abandon you. Help us to draw closer to you, to feel your Presence in our hearts, our lives. Amen.

Joy Carol
www.joycarol.com