LOVE - PRAY - HOPE

“In the face of all that confronts us as lost, dead, barren, or forsaken—in the world outside and in the universe within our hearts—God bids us change our perspective.”

Br. Sean Glenn looks to Abram for evidence of how God invites us to hold the impossible in our hearts and know it is drenched in God’s purpose and love.

“My enemies are God’s children, with a place in God’s heart. And Jesus says bless, don’t curse them. Pray God’s blessing to be upon them.”

Br. Curtis Almquist unfolds Jesus’ teaching about loving our enemies.

“What if I ask, and my request is denied – or even worse, met with a deafening silence? What if I search and I come up empty-handed, exhausted and looking like an idiot for investing myself in such a lost cause? What if I knock until my knuckles bleed and the door doesn’t budge? Then where will I be?”

Br. Keith Nelson considers the vulnerability of prayer and concludes that God always responds to prayer.

“The Lord’s Prayer is so familiar, probably to most of us, perhaps too familiar to some of us for us to be mindful of its profundity. These are Jesus’ words, words which completely embrace us as if we, with Jesus, all belong to the same Father, the same Papa. You might inspiration for some meaningful meditation for Lent.”

Br. Curtis Almquist reflects on Jesus’ prayer and finds in it meaningful inspiration for our Lenten prayer.

“I am the guy who gives up craft beer for Lent and by week two I have succumbed to the desert heat and am quenching my thirst with a cold, refreshing IPA straight from the devil’s hand! In my frustration and disappointment with myself, I try to make myself feel better by thinking of something I can give up the next year where I might actually have success, like perhaps, asparagus. Nothing banishes temptation quite like asparagus.”

Br. Jim Woodrum considers Lenten disciplines and discovers – with some help from the Desert Fathers – how temptation can actually be a tool to help us to better know ourselves and draw near to God.