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Here are this week’s must-reads:
+ “Whatever you choose to focus on this Lent, remember that God desires a relationship with you. He loves you. He does not want you to suffer for the sake of suffering, he wants you to grow closer to Him and He wants you to allow Him into your life so that He can be closer to you. Focus on growth this Lent, and remember that whatever you choose to do is intended to work for the good of yourself and others.” — Dr. Greg & Lisa Popcak
+ When it comes to Lent, I’ve heard the advice that we should sacrifice for the Lord out of love, not out of obligation. And that we shouldn’t ask ourselves what’s required this Lent — but that we should strive to be generous with Him instead… I love that and it actually reminds me a lot about marriage, and all the hidden ways that we love and serve our spouses. 💕 read the rest here!
+ “Lent invites us… to recognize that ‘our homeland is in heaven’ (Phil 3:20)” — St. John Paul II
+ The family is the domestic church and so I see decorating your home for Lent in a similar way to how our churches are prepared for Lent. Yes, there is certainly a focus on less — but colors, images, beautiful pieces of art — and sacramentals can also help enhance our focus on Jesus in the desert during Lent. More about how home decor during Lent can lift your heart and mind to prayer — read here.
+ “Now we must help each other get to heaven” sort of made me think of Lent, you know? All of us collectively entering the desert, listening for God’s voice, and ordering our daily lives towards eternity.
Here’s a look at what’s featured in this week’s newsletter. Everything’s under $60. Sign up for it here – and you’ll also get access to last year’s best-sellers!
+ A great Q & A about Lenten things from Emily Stimpson-Chapman:
“The ultimate goal of our penance is not suffering. It’s glory. By God’s grace, penance draws us closer to Christ. It immerses us more fully in His gracious love. It heals our hearts so we can be united to Him more fully. In short, Lent is a season of loving preparation—for Easter and for Heaven. And that’s not something to be dreaded or resented. It’s a reason to rejoice and be glad. It’s all part of why we have such great hope that someday we will pass beyond this world of suffering into eternal joy…
But please don’t think of Lent as a season that is demanding more suffering of you. It is a season that demands more of you—but not more pain, not more grief. Rather, it demands more of your heart. It demands more openness to grace. And it demands more vulnerability to God breaking your chains of self-reliance, so He can give you what you can’t give yourself.”
+ “True love never hesitates, it always desires to give more.” St. Elizabeth of the Trinity
+ “Holiness isn’t waiting for us in a quiet monastery—it’s right here, in the dishes, the emails, the traffic jams. It’s in the mundane, the messy, the moments we’d rather rush through. When we invite God into the small things, we start seeing Him everywhere. And suddenly, the ordinary doesn’t feel so ordinary anymore.” — Mary Lenaburg
+ A simple prayer that seems perfect for Lent: “Grant me, O Lord my God, a mind to know you, a heart to seek you, wisdom to find you, conduct pleasing to you, faithful perseverance in waiting for you, and a hope of finally embracing you. Amen.” (St. Thomas Aquinas)
+ “Abandonment to God is simply leaving things in His jurisdiction. And we can do this with greater ease when we know that God is for us, not against us.” — Big Apple Catholic
+ “The second question that comes to mind after asking “Why:” What am I missing in this moment while I’m distracted by these aches and longings — what do you have for me here, today?” — see here
+ Praying the Rosary makes me think of Lent. It’s so easy for your mind to wander. To consider what to make for dinner. Who you needed to text back. Your plans for the rest of the week. And every time these distractions come up, you just try again. You go back to the Mystery, you re-focus on the prayer. You return. Again and again. You wander, you return. It’s like a little moment of Lent that can strengthen your ability to return once you realize you drifted.
“Even now, return to me with your whole heart.”
Even now — when you’re distracted.
Even now — when you’re grieved.
Even now — when you’re tired.
He’s always inviting you back, lovingly. Into His heart and into His life. Look at this Lent through the lens of His love, asking you to stay near.
+ “The Stations of the Cross can open us up to the idea of, “life being a journey or pilgrimage.” When praying the Stations of the Cross, it is common to move from one station to the next. This physical movement is sometimes made even more dramatic when praying at outdoor stations that wind its way up and down a hill. Our life is a journey, a pilgrimage, that will be difficult at times, but will lead us to our ultimate home.” — Philip Kosloski
+ Book recommendation — on suffering, redemptive suffering, grieving and moving forward in faith. I think this will be such a helpful book for so many!
+ “The world says ‘make it happen.’ The Word says ‘Wait on God.'”
+ “O Lord, make this Lenten season different from the other ones. Let me find you again. Amen.” — Henri Nouwen
+ “Robert Frost knew suffering. But in knowing suffering, he coped with it, grew from it, and decided to pay that experience forward. In his poetry, he reminds us again and again that we are not alone in our suffering, much less in our stumbling, fumbling responses to it.
In nearing his life’s end, Robert Frost was asked by an earnest journalist what enduring lesson he had learned from a life of suffering. The avuncular, measured Frost smiled and answered simply and finally, “In three words I can sum up everything I’ve learned about life: it goes on.” — Dr. Tod Worner
More finds featured in this week’s Collection, which you can read through here.
