The Story Behind This BlogAbout the AuthorI am not a Biblical scholar or expert. I’m just an active and educated Catholic. I participate in the life of my parish, I sing in the choir, I have a living prayer life. I’ve participated in a wealth of Bible Studies over the years, both formal college classes and studies held at my church using the Little Rock or Collegeville series. And I’ve observed a lot of Lents.
Some years, I have followed a Lenten discipline of giving something up, other years, I’ve taken something on. Some years my husband and I have been RCIA sponsors and shared the journey through Lent through the eyes of those just joining the church. Many years I have found Lent to be a powerful and moving experience, but other years, I have found it hard to commit, hard to focus. Fortunately, God is big enough to handle all my issues, and always, always, by the end of Lent I find myself somehow prepared for the Easter miracle.
About this BlogThis project started in 2004. That year it wasn’t a blog, and it wasn’t for anyone but myself. That year I wasn’t emotionally ready to face Lent and I approached it with dread, and with guilt about the dread. I really didn’t want to observe Lent, though I knew I should. Finally, a few days before Ash Wednesday, while taking a walk and praying, God inspired me to study the daily readings as my Lenten discipline that year. I did so, writing a journal of my thoughts each day. And of course, spending six weeks with the Word, by the time Easter came I was ready.
For the next four years I maintained the Lenten discipline of spending time with the daily readings, and I posted my meditations on this website. The first year I was so nervous about anyone reading it that I didn’t really tell anyone I was doing it. I figured if someone stumbled in that was OK, but I wouldn’t promote it. After that I loosened up; some of my friends and fellow parishioners have read it online and tell me they got something from it.
Then I went two years without posting anything. I was going through a lot of upheaval in my life and my self-image was changing. I feared that my Lenten blog had become self-serving, too much about me. So I pursued other Lenten disciplines and left the blog alone. This year, I realized that I'm ready to write again. I feel like a lot different person than the one who posted here from 2005 through 2008 -- in some ways less sure of myself, but in all ways more sure of God. I have not only hit 50, but begun to settle comfortably into my 50's. The world looks different to me now, and I'm sure the Lenten readings will, too.
What to expectI wanted to include the complete text of the assigned readings for each day, so you wouldn't have to work very hard to get them. After all, the Bible readings are the most important part of each day's entry! I found, however, that the US Conference of Catholic Bishops holds the copyright to the New American Bible and daily lectionary, and prohibits its use in any electronic or print form. I considered using a different translation, but in the end I felt it best to stick with the NAB. So each day's entry will start with a link to the Conference of Catholic Bishops website, so you can go there and read that day's readings first. Then you'll have to use your "Back" button to return to my site. Please, please don’t skip this step!
As another practical matter, some days I post the next day's meditation before I go to bed the night before, and other times I post first thing that morning. Thus the date stamp on the posting is sometimes the day BEFORE the readings. Each will be headed with the liturgical day it refers to, so if you just follow that heading, there shouldn't be any confusion. (I hope.)
I try to keep these completely grounded in the daily readings, but at the same time they reflect my very personal reactions. It is my hope that glimpsing my personal real-life struggles and questions will help the reader reflect on his or her life, too, and connect to the readings in a new way. As I look back on previous years' entries, I feel that I sometimes I focused TOO narrowly on the readings. There are people better qualified than me to lead a study of the texts. I think the value I can add is just sharing where the readings take me. So I'll try to be more sure to do that.
I don’t claim to have any great insights, just honesty as a fellow walker on the path of faith. And every day I’ve included a prayer. I will be praying for all of you who read this every day of Lent. If you find my meditations helpful, I'd love to hear from you. It might help me on my walk this year. Just click where it says "Comments" below, and it will bring up a screen where you can leave them.
