40 Days of Lent – Lectio Divina

“He was in the wilderness forty days, tempted by Satan; and he was with the wild beasts;

and the angels waited on him.”

Mark 1: 13

40 days, Lord.

40 days of rain for Noah.

40 days with God for Moses.

40 days of wilderness for Jesus.

40 days of Lent for me, Lord.

Days to open my heart to your presence.

Days to let go of what blocks me from you.

Days to soak in your word.

40 days to watch for your tender touch throughout the day.

40 days to leave my self-centeredness and reach out to help others.

40 days to stand like Noah in your healing rain, with my arms open and my heart vulnerable, allowing you to wash away my sin.

40 days to wait like Moses listening for your whisper, knowing you keep your promises.

40 days to wander like Jesus through the wilderness of this troubled world, acknowledging you are with me in every way.

40 days, Lord.

I offer these 40 days of Lent up to you, Lord.

Please walk with me these 40 days of wilderness, floods and mountaintops.

Transform me how you choose.

Call me forth from dust and bless these 40 days with you.

 

A Lenten Quote to Ponder:

The object of our prayer-life is to empty ourselves and be filled with the Trinity. The first thing Jesus did when He became Man was to empty Himself. “His state was Divine, yet He did not cling to His equality with God, but emptied Himself to assume the condition of a slave and become as men are; and as all men are, He was humbler yet.” (Phil. 2:6,7)
Our mission in life, then, is to cooperate with God’s Grace and empty ourselves and be filled with the Trinity.
We are not to seek detachment to be free of responsibility, but to enable us to love both God and man with a pure love.
We are not to withdraw from the world to be alone, but to be with God.
We are to do penance, not because it erases our guilt, but because it wipes away the traces of sin.
We are to empty ourselves, not for the sake of self-control, but to be filled with God- transformed into Jesus.
There is no definite method by which we can become selfless. Each one of us has a particular virtue and faults that make the process of becoming like Jesus different. We must look at Jesus, read His Word in Scripture and ask His Spirit to enlighten our minds and give us that particular way by which we can best attain the goal He has set for us ….

Mother Angelica