My Dear Spiritual Family,
Grace to you and peace as we enter once again into the sacred season of Lent.
A Season of Return
Lent is not primarily a season of guilt. It is a season of return.
The prophet Joel cries out: *"Return to me with all your heart, with fasting, with weeping, and with mourning."* And then—and this is the part we often rush past—*"Rend your hearts and not your garments."*
The outward disciplines of Lent—fasting, prayer, almsgiving—are not ends in themselves. They are means. They are ways of creating space in us for the One who is already seeking us.
The question Lent asks is not: *How much can you give up?*
The question is: *What is standing between you and God?*
Three Invitations
This Lent, I want to offer you three simple invitations:
First: Fast from something that numbs you. Not necessarily food—though food fasting has deep spiritual power. But consider: what do you reach for when you want to avoid feeling? Social media? Busyness? Entertainment? Fasting from the numbing agent creates space for the feelings that need to be felt—and the God who meets us in them.
Second: Give something that costs you. Almsgiving is not about giving from surplus. It is about giving until you feel it. Find one person or community in genuine need, and give in a way that requires something of you.
Third: Pray in a way that is uncomfortable. If you always pray the same way, try something different. If you only pray alone, try praying with others. If you only use words, try silence. If you only pray in comfort, try praying on your knees.
A Word for the Weary
I know that some of you come to this season already exhausted. Already depleted. Already feeling like you have nothing left to give.
For you, I want to say: Lent is not a performance.
You do not have to do it perfectly. You do not have to do all three things. You do not have to arrive at Easter having completed a spiritual marathon.
You just have to show up.
Show up to the season. Show up to the silence. Show up to the God who is already waiting for you in the desert.
He will do the rest.
A Blessing
May this Lent be for you a season of honest encounter—with yourself, with those you love, and with the God who descended into the depths to find you.
May you find, in the fasting, a hunger for what truly satisfies.
May you find, in the prayer, a silence that speaks.
May you find, in the giving, a freedom you did not expect.
And may you arrive at Easter not exhausted, but renewed—not having earned the resurrection, but having received it.
With love and prayer,
Joseph Michael