Sisters and Brothers in Christ,

We’ve entered that holy time of the church known as Lent. It is a time of new beginnings; a time when we reflect on the past, strive for a better future, all while trying to live faithfully in the present. It is a time to recall the signs of God’s grace in our lives and heed the beckoning to draw closer to the One who offers eternal love.

In past times, a pilgrimage to the Holy Land held a traditional appeal for some. Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales ,depicted medieval people on a journey for God. However, this year, perhaps instead of a journey to a holy shrine, might we enter a spiritual pilgrimage of prayer.

Is prayer a natural part of your everyday life? If not, it is perhaps the obvious, yet most difficult, place to begin that pilgrimage. As writer John Westerhoff pointed out, spiritual pilgrimage is often seen as the beginning of true adulthood but is also very challenging. “...the spiritual life in the beginning is simply difficult, hard work from the human point of view. Prayer is a highly disciplined activity. It is labor-intensive and often without a great deal to show for it.”

For your journey of Lent, I offer you a prayer from monastic Thomas Merton’s book Thoughts In Solitude. I think this prayer demonstrates that all of God’speople, even monks, share common needs and desires as we seek that closerwalk.

My Lord God, I have no idea where I am going. I do not see the road ahead
of me. I cannot know for certain where it will end. Nor do I really know myself,
and the fact that I think I am following your will does not mean I am actually
doing so. But I believe that the desire to please you does in fact please you. And I
hope I have that desire in all that I am doing. I hope that I will never do anything
apart from that desire. And I know that if I do this you will lead me in the right
road, though I may know nothing about it. Therefore, I will trust you always
though I may seem to be lost and in the shadow of death. I will not fear, for you
are ever with me, and you will never leave me to face my perils alone.