When the spirit leads us into the desert: a Lenten reflection

IMG_6892We begin Lent with another brief but profound Lenten reflection from our Chaplain, Sr Josephine Canny OA…

To live Lent is to allow ourselves be led by the Spirit into the desert – a place of passage rich with potential if, like Christ, we consent to be who we are: children who receive their life from the Father, marked with a certain void but aspiring towards fullness.

When God addresses Moses “Speak to the whole assembly of the sons of Israel and say to them, “Be holy, for I, the Lord your God am holy,” the invitation might frighten us were it not for the fact that it is followed by a list of things we should avoid in order not to hurt our neighbour and thereby arrive at holiness (Lev.19, 1-2, 11-18).

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Jesus insists on this path in Matthew 25 – goodwill towards everyone.

When we look through the eyes of Jesus, we see new things in people:

In murderers, we see our own hatred; in addicts, our own addictions.

In the saints, we catch glimpses of our own holiness and our capacity to love and forgive…

Forty days then to rediscover the joy of being the beloved sons and daughters of God, attentive to the Word made flesh, Jesus, our brother. Forty days of thanksgiving. Let us enter into it with courage…