Being Led to God

Dear Friend,

Peace and all good be yours!

This week’s reading from the first Letter of Saint Peter offers a good framework for Lent: Christ suffered that he might lead us to God. The challenge Noah faced (first reading) and Jesus’s time in the desert point us in the same direction. Today, in a time that continues to bring suffering to so many, our scriptures assure us that we are being led to God. 

Over the past few weeks I’ve been grateful for three teachers who help me discern how this might be true. First, from the Franciscan School of Theology in San Diego, Father Garrett Galvin recently offered us an excellent introduction to the first Letter of Peter. He argues that this text, with its recurring theme of Christ’s suffering, was one of the most important in all of scripture for Saint Francis. In a similar vein, Brother Jeff Macnab spoke to us through a parish video about our Franciscan Novitiate as a period marked by seasons aimed at the sometimes painful growth that brings self-knowledge. Could this Lent be a “novitiate” for all of us? Thirdly, in his Ash Wednesday homily from the steps of the Mission, Bishop Barron gave us a very practical overview of Lent’s three pillars: prayer, fasting, and almsgiving. For me, each one of these presentations is worth a second (or third) viewing.

Finally, please read on about a timely Lenten offering from a woman’s perspective.  At a pivotal moment in our Franciscan history St. Clare helped build a spiritual foundation for the Franciscan family that has held to this day. There is no better teacher than Sister Margaret Carney to explain how Clare did it. May St. Clare and all of our wise teachers help lead us to God this Lent!

 Gratefully,

 Fr. Dan ofm