My dear brothers and sisters in Christ,
With the arrival of February, the holy season of Lent is now almost upon us. Once again, we will place ashes on our foreheads and be invited and challenged to walk with the Lord into the desert. It happens every year, and yet Lent is never meant to be “just another Lent,” but rather it always meant to be this Lent, the one God intends to use for our deeper conversion now.
I invite us to use these two weeks before Ash Wednesday intentionally. The Church, in her wisdom, does not rush us into Lent unprepared, but she gives us time to ask and reflect on an honest question: What does the Lord desire to do in me this Lent? Not merely, What will I give up? or What will I add? but rather, Where am I being called to change?
Lent has never been about self-improvement for its own sake, but as we will hear in the Scriptures of the Lenten season, a returning to the Lord with our whole heart. Prayer, fasting, and almsgiving are not spiritual chores to check off; they are tools the Lord uses to soften hardened places, awaken sleepy hearts, and heal what sin has wounded. Lent bears fruit when we allow it to be uncomfortable enough to be honest.
Now is the time to prepare. Take a few quiet moments this week. Ask the Holy Spirit to reveal one concrete area of your life where conversion is needed, perhaps a habit, an attitude, a relationship, or a resistance to grace. Choose practices that are realistic, intentional, and rooted in love, not guilt. I propose the following questions to help our discernment:
- Where in my life is the Lord truly at the center, and where has He become more of a visitor?
- What keeps me from going to Confession more freely and honestly?
- What anxieties and fears dominate my thoughts, and what do they reveal about my trust in the Lord?
- Who is hardest for me to love right now and why?
- How much of my time is shaped by prayer versus noise and distraction?
- What have I sensed the Lord calling me to do that I may be avoiding?
- Lord, what do you desire to change in me that I may be more fully yours?
If we enter Lent deliberately, with humility and trust, it will not be a season we simply endure. It will be a season that changes us.
May these coming days help us ready our hearts, so that when Lent arrives, we step into it not reluctantly, but expectantly—confident that the Lord desires to do something new within us.
Praised be Jesus Christ, Now and forever!
All you holy saints of God, pray for us!
Peace In Christ,
Fr. Michael Silloway
Pastor