Third Week of Lent

O to grace how great a debtor daily I’m constrained to be!
Let that grace now, like a fetter, bind my wandering heart to thee.

This hymn we pray with again today reminds us that we are prone to wander, . . . prone to leave the God I love. We are like the woman at the well; we know that life on our own terms is insufficient, so we wander and search for more. But because we are trying to solve the symptoms of our restlessness, and not the cause, we only feel more scattered and distracted.
Jesus helps us confront the cause of our restlessness this Lent; he did exactly that with the woman at the well. He could have stepped around the uncomfortable facts of her life in their dialogue, but he went right to the place of her greatest insecurity. He helped her see the ways she was hurting and then called her to a new life in him.
God does not avoid the parts of our lives that are uncomfortable; he wants all of us. He wants to heal us precisely in the places we are wounded. Our task this Lent is simply to bind our wandering hearts to him.

Prayer for Morning

Loving Creator, you made us to know, love, and serve you. Grant me the freedom to give myself to you. Loving Father, take my heart.

Ponder Today

How am I prone to wander? How can I return to God when I feel pulled away?

Prayer for Evening

Loving Creator, you never stop pursuing us to draw us deeper into the life you intend for us. Loving Father, bind my heart to you.

Third Week of Lent

Come, thou Fount of every blessing; tune my heart to sing thy grace.

Sin is a selfish pattern that distorts us. When we fall into sin, we make a trade-off: we choose to live by our own pleasure and standards instead of God’s. That trade-off means we turn away from the fullness of who we are created to be. And then we respond to this sin with shame and isolation, and the effects compound.
No matter how hard we work to life-hack our way out of our sinful mess, we can’t fix ourselves. We need a savior to restore the divine image we were created with, to make us whole. Jesus does this for us and more; he raises us higher than we ever would have dared so we can share in God’s life. Christians have passed the hymn we pray with today down through the years because we all need Jesus, our fount of blessing.

Prayer for Morning

Jesus, Divine Savior, only you can fill what is lacking and mend what is broken. Help me reach for you when I am suffering and stuck in dead-end habits. Mercy of God, make me whole.

Ponder Today
What habits or practices tune my heart to God’s grace?

Prayer for Evening

Jesus, Divine Savior, you come into our lives to interrupt whatever separates us from the love of the Father. Reach into my life with your transforming grace. Mercy of God, find and keep me.

Third Week of Lent

Streams of mercy, never ceasing, call for songs of loudest praise.

Jesus tells the woman at the well that he offers living water (see John 4:10) and that if she learns to draw from the well of his love, she will never be thirsty again. She’s intrigued and asks how to get this water. She is still thinking of physical water, but her instincts are right; she’s wondering how to access what Jesus wants to give her.
We are asking the same question this Lent: how do we change our lives to be able to draw from Jesus’s living water? At every turn in the exchange at the well, Jesus anticipates the woman’s need, and he does the same for us. He is the incarnation of God’s love; he is divine self-gift, always pouring out. In fact, his streams of grace are pouring into our lives right now. We don’t need to haul up this grace from some hidden place in order to drink of it. He has already given all to us. Our task this Lent is to change our lives so that we live within this never-ceasing stream of mercy. There—in the living water—we will find abundant life.

Prayer for Morning

Jesus, font of blessing, you pour yourself out for us and flood us in the stream of the Father’s grace. Living Water, wash me clean.

Ponder Today

How can I pour myself out for others today?

Prayer for Evening

Jesus, font of blessing, you refresh and sustain us on our journey to the Father. Grant me wisdom to drink from you alone when I need consolation. Living Water, I thirst for you.

Third Week of Lent

Jesus sought me when a stranger.

This week, we contemplate the story of Jesus meeting the woman at the well (see John 4). A Samaritan woman comes to draw water at noon in the heat of the day, thereby avoiding the other townsfolk. She finds Jesus lingering there, and despite their differences in gender, lifestyle, and nationality, he draws her into an exchange that changes her life.
This woman was a Samaritan, so she wasn’t looking for the Messiah; she wasn’t looking for anyone! She just wanted to quietly go about her business. But because she was open to something new for her life, Jesus found her and transformed her. Her dialogue with him—however halting and imperfect—makes it possible for her to receive what he wants to give. Jesus is lingering in our lives, too, waiting for us to show up—even in the midst of our daily chores—and to start a dialogue with him through which he can lead us to new life.

Prayer for Morning

Jesus, our truth, you seek us out and help us to see our lives without pretense. Grant me the courage and freedom to dream of a bigger, fuller life with you. Jesus, God’s love, lead me.

Ponder Today

Who sits on the edge of my social circle? How can I make a meaningful connection with them?

Prayer for Evening

Jesus, our truth, help me see and reach for the new ways you call me to live. Jesus, God’s love, I will follow you.

Second Week of Lent

Since you bid us leave the mount, come with us to the plain.

It’s easy to understand Peter’s desire to stay with the heavenly vision of his transfigured Lord, but the moment fades and he returns to his life. There were plans to make, meals to prepare, and people to talk to. How could he carry the splendor of what he had just witnessed into the ordinary details of everyday living?
Now that Peter understood more fully who Jesus is, he had to carry this vision by memory shaped by faith. When facing uncertainty, he drew on this vision to find hope. And Jesus didn’t leave him on that mountain; he hiked down it with Peter and reentered daily life with him. We have nothing less at our disposal as we walk with faith this Lent. Remember this vision with hope for where we are going. The Lord is at our side.

Prayer for Morning

Son of God, you reign in splendor with the Father, yet you also share every aspect of human life with us. Help me turn to you every day, even in the small and dreary moments of my life. Holy One, be present with me today.

Ponder Today

What part of my life feels less than radiant and glorified right now? How can I see Jesus there?

Prayer for Evening

Son of God, you call us to carry the Father’s love into every corner of the world. Strengthen my faith and deepen my hope so I won’t lose sight of you and where you are leading me. Holy One, help me follow you.

Second Week of Lent

Fulfiller of the past, promise of things to be! We hail your body glorified, and our redemption see.

When Jesus began his public ministry, he fulfilled Israel’s long-held expectation for a messiah, but in ways that exceeded our expectations. His people were looking for someone to deliver them from enemies and secure a peaceful and strong kingdom. They received a savior who freed them, and continues to free us, from death, bringing us into God’s kingdom. Christ is “fulfiller of the past” and “promise of things to be.”
In our hymn today, we hail Jesus’s body glorified because he does not just tell us about our redemption—he embodies it and shares this divine life with each of us, even to the point of giving us his Body and Blood. He is the way who is already here with us. Our Lenten practice is our effort to conform our lives to his so we can receive the divine life he offers.

Prayer for Morning

Lord of glory, in your Transfiguration, you revealed to us the fullness of your divine sonship. Help me keep this vision before me to remember that I, too, am God’s beloved child. Jesus, our salvation, I will follow you.

Ponder Today

What challenges my faith in God and my hope to live with him forever? How can I invite Jesus into that doubt with me?

Prayer for Evening

Lord of glory, your communion with the Father radiates into our world as life and light. Let this radiance guide my Lenten journey so I may step out of the shadows and into God’s love with you. Jesus, our salvation, transform my life.

Second Week of Lent

’Tis good, Lord, to be here, your beauty to behold.

As he witnesses Jesus transfigured, Peter exclaims, “Rabbi, it is good that we are here!” (Mk 9:5). Since the moment he was called, Peter had the sense that Jesus was special. He got glimpses into Jesus’s divinity here and there, but now, finally, it’s on full, radiant display. Peter believed in Jesus before, but at this moment, the veil is pulled back and his faith is validated.
Peter’s only mistake is to associate this faith with a geographic place. Seeing Jesus transfigured, Peter thinks that the way to respond to this glory is by being next to him there on Mt. Tabor. But Jesus’s mission is not waiting for us to climb a mountain to find him. His mission is to come to us—to walk with us, especially through the valley of sin and death. We don’t have to go anywhere to find him. He’s already here, ready to shine in our lives.

Prayer for Morning

Jesus, Radiance of God’s Glory, you establish your kingdom first within us and call us to extend your justice and mercy. Help me trust in your loving presence here with me, especially when I am walking in darkness. Jesus, our light, increase my faith.

Ponder Today

How will I allow Jesus to walk with me through a challenging part of my day today?

Prayer for Evening

Jesus, Radiance of God’s Glory, your transfiguration reveals how we are each destined to shine with divine light as God’s children. Deepen my longing to be transformed by your love. Jesus, our light, increase my hope.

Second Week of Lent

Be thou my wisdom, be thou my true word; be thou ever with me and I with thee, Lord; be thou my great Father, and I thy true son, be thou in me dwelling, and I with thee one.

Jesus taught us to relate to God as a father, but have you ever wondered where he learned about fatherhood? If St. Joseph, whose feast we celebrate today, had not been a loving provider, Jesus’s experience of family would have challenged the way he understood his oneness with the Father.
Jesus spoke of how he abides with the Father and the Father abides with the Son. The witness of Joseph’s life reveals that he intentionally cultivated this same indwelling with our heavenly Father, which gave him the strength and wisdom to love and care for Mary and Jesus. We may not be facing the same dramatic circumstances as Joseph, but his example calls us to develop our own living connection to our Father, through his son.

Prayer for Morning

St. Joseph, most obedient, you humbly accepted the role God asked of you in caring for the Holy Family. Help me to hear and accept what God is asking of me today, and to respond with your selflessness. Joseph, most strong, pray for me.

Ponder Today

Who in my life is a good father? How can I affirm them for loving well?

Prayer for Evening

St. Joseph, most obedient, your faith in God shaped your love for Mary and Jesus. Help me deepen my faith and grow in my love for them as well so I may also reflect God’s light to others. Joseph, most strong, pray for me.

Second Week of Lent

High king of heaven, thou heaven’s bright sun, O grant me its joys, after vict’ry is won; great heart of my own heart, whatever befall, still be thou my vision, O ruler of all.

Jesus’s Transfiguration is a sign of what we will become. His followers saw him clothed in radiant light and then a cloud descended over them and they heard a voice say, “This is my beloved Son. Listen to him” (Mk 9:7). T his is a revelation of intimacy between the Father and the Son; the glory that shines forth here is simply how we perceive union with the Father.
If intimacy with the Father is our destination as well, then we must change our perspective of where we are going this Lent. We are not reaching to share Jesus’s glory; we are reaching to share his intimacy with the Father. Jesus allows us to step into this relationship, and the closer we grow to the Father, the more we will shine with his divine light.

Prayer for Morning

Jesus, our mediator, you are God’s beloved Son, sent to bring us all to the Father. Help me listen to you so I may follow you more closely and share in your communion with the Father. Jesus, our brother, be first in my heart.

Ponder Today

What is one thing I can do today to listen more closely to Jesus?

Prayer for Evening

Jesus, our mediator, only one thing is necessary for our salvation and eternal life—you—and you have already given yourself entirely to us. Help me receive you fully in this moment. Jesus, our brother, be my treasure.

Second Week of Lent

Be thou my breastplate, my sword for the fight; be thou my whole armor, be thou my true might; be thou my soul’s shelter, be thou my strong tow’r, O raise thou me heav’nward, great pow’r of my pow’r.

T his is a fitting hymn on this feast of St. Patrick because its verses come from an Irish poem from the Middle Ages. The lyrics take the shape of a lorica, a prayer for protection that was developed by medieval Irish monks. A lorica calls upon imagery used by St. Paul—a breastplate and sword (see Ephesians 6:14)—to invoke God’s power as a defense against evil.
Patrick knew what it meant to be defenseless. He was kidnapped and sold into slavery as a boy, and after running away and finding his freedom, he returned to the place of his captivity to evangelize the people there. He would not have survived through his own strength. With Patrick, we find armor and might in our faith, for God is our shelter and our strength.

Prayer for Morning

God, High King of Heaven, you protect us with your love. Help me find a home in you so I may dwell in the safety of your providing care. Keep me safe and give me strength to resist evil. Great Father, be my soul’s shelter.

Ponder Today

How can I invite God to change the way I see the world today? What might it be like to see this day unfold with God’s vision?

Prayer for Evening

God, High King of Heaven, you see into our hearts and call us toward your wisdom and truth. Help me develop the attentiveness to hear you speak and the humility to depend on you. Great Father, be my true might.