The season of Lent can be likened to a desert experience for we are called to make prayer, fasting and alms-giving the focus of our lives during these 40 days before Easter.
It is a call to give up the indulgences of "soft living" and pay attention to the poor, sick and needy among us. To reflect on how love can be self-sacrificing to the point of death and to wonder if we ourselves are capable of such depths of love.
I haven't been as attentive as I would like in allowing the stillness of prayer to permeate my being, and I should, for it is an opportunity to be refreshed, nourished and strengthened, as Father Adrian reminded me last week, when I choose the better part, which is to sit at the feet of our Lord quietly.
However, when I do allow myself to be mindful of the Lord's presence in my life, I have been rewarded with the ability to be grateful for small mercies and to be awed by how He can use me to make a significant difference in someone's life.
For me, Lent is a time to say yes in an even bigger way to finding out who I am and what I am made of - to test my own limits and to challenge myself to go beyond my comfort zone.
At the heart of Lent is the call to be more human. To find my place in this world and to claim it with courage, fortitude, discipline and zest even though I may be scared, alone, thirsty and tired.
As I face a daunting week ahead of me, I know that my best choice this week is to enter the desert frequently and allow the silence to be transformed into the living water that sustains me.
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