SOMETHING DIFFERENT FOR LENT 2012

First Sunday of Lent ~ 26th February 2012

“The Spirit sent him out into the wilderness”

Welcome to the first week of our Lenten retreat. Each week these reflections will be a guide for you to spend some more time in prayer and throughout Lent. It is also an opportunity to focus in on the Lenten themes each week and to take some ‘time out’ each day.

Our theme for Lent this year is Live Lent. Transform Your World. We begin our Lenten retreat by allowing ourselves to be led into the ‘wilderness’. We need to remove ourselves from our hectic world for a few minutes each day to give ourselves space and time. In the Gospels we are told that Jesus frequently goes away to a quiet place to pray, to escape the crowds, to spend time with God. This is a good place to start.

Tasks for this week:

First you are invited to create a simple sacred space in your home. This could be in the corner of your bedroom or sitting room. It should be somewhere that you can go for some quiet time each day. You may use some symbols in your space – such as a cross, candles, a bible or some significant symbol for you. The colour for Lent is purple so you may like to use that colour in your sacred space. You could even create your own mini-desert using some sand and stones. Be creative, yet keep it simple.

Secondly, some people like to carry something with them during the weeks of Lent, like a stone or pebble. This is a reminder of the things that weigh you down, preventing you from living as freely and as fully as you can. Take your stone out once everyday and hold it in your hand. By the

end of the five weeks you will know every part of it as you will know your inner self. You can place the stone/symbol in the sacred space each night as a symbol of giving those burdens to God.

The following suggestions on these pages are meant as a guide.You can do some of them or all of them. Take your time – you have a full week.

Prayer suggestions for the week:

1. Breathing exercise: Be still. Take three deep slow breaths. Then, focus on your normal breathing. This is the breath of life. Thank God for this gift of breath and life. Repeat the following: “Lord, you are closer to me than my own breathing” (St. Teresa).

2. Read Sunday’s Gospel, two or three times (Mark 1:12-15)
Sit with the text, and pick a word or phrase that stands out to you. Repeat that word or phrase in your mind. Why is that word or phrase relevant to you at this moment? Is it calling you to action? That action might be thanksgiving, a call for prayer, or a more specific action.

Something to think about:

Jesus went to the desert to prepare for his public ministry. How will I prepare for this season of Lent? Where is my ‘wilderness’? Where can I go to reflect/pray/ ‘BE STILL’? I can take up something as well as or instead of giving up something. What will I do this Lent? How will I live in solidarity with those who ‘have not’?
Lord, help me to change on my Lenten journey.

God created me in His own image and likeness. He always sees the good in me. God is always close to me and with me. Do I sometimes priorities other things in life because I am so busy working, caring, cleaning, rushing ~ I move further away from God? This Lent I will try to spend some time in prayer each day, even if only for a few minutes.
Lord, help me to change on my Lenten journey

Thought for the Week:
‘The question is not “How am I to find God?” but
“How am I to let myself be found by Him?”
The question is not “How am I to know God?” but
“How am I to let myself be known by God?”
And finally, the question is not “How am I to love God?” but
“How am I to let myself be loved by God?”
God is looking into the distance for me,
Trying to find me, and longing to bring me home.’
(Henri J. Nouwen)