Welcome to Lent week four.
These meditations are an opportunity for us to stay connected to the Lenten season,
Not just Sundays but all week,
And think about Lent in the context of our everyday lives.
We have an opening and closing meditation for each week of Lent.
My name is Jess and I've engaged Lent in everything from giving up physical things like sugar or alcohol,
To giving up character issues like negativity or sarcasm,
To some years not giving up much of anything for Lent.
So these times are meant to take the focus off the transaction of giving something up for religious duty,
But engaging the season as a time for spiritual growth and renewal.
To begin,
Let's take five big breaths.
The science behind mindful practices is really quite fascinating.
We are training our minds to be more attentive to life.
As we do this,
We dampen the activity in a part of our brain called the amygdala and increase connections with our prefrontal cortex.
This connection helps us be less reactive to stressors and to recover better from stress as we experience it.
It sharpens focus and over time makes us more compassionate,
Has positive impact on our relationships and mental health.
So try it for just one minute as we begin to feel yourself breathe.
And as you do,
Try to be particularly mindful of what your body does as you just relax,
Step back,
And breathe.
I hope that was calming to your body.
If your mind went to other places just now,
Or happens throughout this time,
That's okay.
It's natural.
And you're still here,
So let's move on.
Take one moment and identify where has God been today?
Think about maybe the last 24 hours in struggles or in joys,
Alone or in community.
Where has God been?
Jesus's experience,
Tempted in the desert,
Is a scripture commonly associated with the spiritual path of Lent.
This scripture will frame our week's three and four meditations.
It happens at the beginning of the Gospels and is seen as a preparation event for the work he would go on to do.
In the story,
Jesus is tempted by the devil with material success and power.
In rejecting these things,
He shows us all the true path of spiritual orientation towards this world.
He initiates what many have referred to as an upside-down kingdom,
Meaning the values that govern our societies like material success and power are counter to Jesus's kingdom with values like service,
Humility,
And justice.
If you're able,
Extend your arms out and turn your palms up or rest your palms on your lap.
We do this as a posture of release toward the Creator.
Let's take a moment to reflect on where you see this upside-down kingdom around you.
In Jesus's Lenten journey,
He released his cares to the Creator,
He released his friends to the Holy Spirit,
And ultimately his life to God's will.
In this season,
We focus on the scars on Jesus's hands.
God,
We place into those hands our very lives.
We reject societal pressures of bigger,
Better,
Faster,
More,
And we accept the path of the kingdom's ethics,
Service,
Humility,
Justice.
Build in us these values so that we may be our truer selves,
Living our true purpose in harmony with the Creator of our souls and love for our neighbor.
Founder of the Catholic Worker,
Dorothy Day,
Said that each act of faith increases our faith and our capacity for faith.
Living counter to the values of our society can be tough,
But it gets better as we practice them.
What are the barriers that exist to overcome,
To live lives of service,
Humility,
And justice?
We exchange the constant pressure to look out for number one,
For the grace of humility and service.
We exchange the urge to compile material success for the grace of an active faith in a God who takes care of us.
We thank you for the grace that comes through the complex work of loving our neighbors as ourselves.
God,
We receive the sacrifice of Christ and all that it offers as liberation to our world,
Our hearts.
The great spiritual writers in the Christian tradition often maintained that prayer's role is to change us from the inside as preparation for active lives lived in the world.
For our final time of silence,
Spend a moment deciding on steps of living in to lend this day.
Maybe it's giving something up,
But making it spiritually meaningful.
Maybe it's committing to deeper prayer or some actions of faith and justice.
Spend a final time of silence before the sacrifice Christ in a posture of commitment about this day.
Amen.
You're invited to join us for our other guided prayers this Lenten season.
