First Sunday of Lent 2007

"Create in me a clean heart, O God, and a steadfast spirit renew in me!"

Today we mark the first Sunday of Lent. It's been a few days already since Ash Wednesday and already am asking myself "How am I doing?" Yet as I ask, I realize that my focus should not be on "doing" but on "being." That is where I feel I am called to focus this Lent on being and becoming rather than merely on doing. Doing is important, and I still think that the disciplines of Lent are part of this process of focusing in on being and becoming. The disciplines help us take pause and remind us that this is a different period of time, a time set apart for renewal and reintegration, reviewing and revisioning.

The Sundays of Lent provide us with rest stops along the journey, places where we can take a deep breath and take stock and listen more closely to the voice of God speaking with us. In the community Eucharistic encounter, we feast at the table of God in order to be sent forth to be bread broken and wine poured for those we meet during the week.

This evening, at 6 p.m., our parish Pax Christi group (of which I am part) is sponsoring a prayerful gathering for peace (in recognition of the upcoming anniversary of the start of the war on Iraq). To gather together with a faith community in prayer at the Vesperian hour to pray for peace seems a fitting way to close this first Sunday of Lent and move into the week. Know that in my prayer this evening, I will be praying also for all those stop by my blog, those known and those unknown, asking God to fill you with peace as you continue your Lenten journey.