Meditations For Lent

Even three hundred years ago, believers found it difficult to sustain for forty days the proper Lenten spirit. That's why even then, countless Christians turned to the writings of Bishop Jacques-Bénigne Bossuet (1627-1704), whose great piety and simple eloquence won him renown as one of the greatest preachers of his time. From Bishop Bossuet's sermons and spiritual writings, believers drew ever greater Lenten wisdom and strength. Now translator Christopher Blum has selected from Bishop Bossuet's voluminous works fifty brief but remarkably powerful meditations that complement the daily readings at Mass during the Lenten season, thus offering to us the perfect companion for a thoughtful and fruitful Lent. If you read and meditate briefly on just one of them each day in Lent, I guarantee that this good French bishop's eloquence will soon have you not merely remembering the events of Christ's journey to His Crucifixion; it will have you spiritually walking with Him on that journey . . . which is precisely what we are called to do in Lent! With Bossuet, this Lent you will find yourself saying, "O Jesus! I present myself to you to make my journey in your company. O my Savior, receive your traveler! Here I am ready, holding on to nothing. Let me go with You to the Father." That's the fire that should burn in the heart of all Christians. This Lent, let Bishop Bossuet enkindle it in yours. Among the Meditations: God Alone Suffices Pray to God in Secret The Truth and the Life Tempted in the Desert The Sign of Jonah Love Your Enemies This Is My Beloved Son And You Will Be Forgiven The Wicked Tenants In Spirit and in Truth The Silence of Christ Priest, Prophet, and King Our Life, a Journey to God The Great Commandment I Was Hungry and You Fed Me The Love of God for Repentant Sinners Up to Jerusalem God, the Life of the Soul The Witness of the Baptist The Raising of Lazarus Jesus Is Persecuted The True Messiah The Anointing The Betrayal The Eucharist The Passion The Brevity of Life Washed of Our Sins A Sign of Contradiction No Man Ever Spoke Like This Man The Entry of Our Lord into Jerusalem To Unite Ourselves with Christ

The Lenten Triodion exhorts us, "Let us observe a fast acceptable and pleasing to the Lord." Using hymns from the Triodion and the Scripture readings appointed for the season, Meditations for Great Lent shows us how to make our fast acceptable: to fast not only from food but from sin; to fast with love and humility, as a means to an end and not an end in itself. Keep this gem of a book with you to inspire you for the Fast and to dip into for encouragement as you pursue your Lenten journey.

Readings for each weekday as well as the Sundays of each of the three cycles are summarized and reflections for each day are given based on scriptural scholarship. +

A Christ-centered guide to the Gospel of Mark for daily devotion and group study during Lent Lent is traditionally a time to reflect on the life, death, and resurrection of Christ and on our lives as followers of Christ. The devotional guide includes forty-six meditations based on a passage form Mark's Gospel with reflection questions and a prayer. For individual reading and meditation each day between Ash Wednesday and Easter, it includes an optional study guide for six weeks of small-group discussion. Especially for congregations that follow the Revised Common Lectionary, here is a resource for individual and corporate spiritual growth in the Year of Mark affordably priced for group use.

Thoughtful and eloquent, as timely (or timeless) now as when it was originally published in 1956, Thoughts in Solitude addresses the pleasure of a solitary life, as well as the necessity for quiet reflection in an age when so little is private. Thomas Merton writes: "When society is made up of men who know no interior solitude it can no longer be held together by love: and consequently it is held together by a violent and abusive authority. But when men are violently deprived of the solitude and freedom which are their due, the society in which they live becomes putrid, it festers with servility, resentment and hate." Thoughts in Solitude stands alongside The Seven Storey Mountain as one of Merton's most uring and popular works. Thomas Merton, a Trappist monk, is perhaps the foremost spiritual thinker of the twentiethcentury. His diaries, social commentary, and spiritual writings continue to be widely read after his untimely death in 1968.

This Lent, come to know Jesus, rather than just know about Jesus. Grounded in Scripture and inspired by Ignatian spirituality, Lenten Meditations: Growing in Friendship with God offers a fresh approach to deepening your friendship with God during Lent. From Ash Wednesday through Easter Sunday, renowned spiritual director William A. Barry, SJ,offers daily reflections that help you enter into a personal and genuine Lenten prayer practice.Step by step and day by day, you will grow towards a more meaningful experience of the Paschal Mystery as you walk with Jesus through the events of Holy Week and Easter Sunday. If you long for more meaning in your spiritual practice, let Father Barry be your guide to connect more deeply with God the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit this Lent.

The lectionary readings for the Lenten season offer a rich source of information and affirmation on our role as baptized disciples of Christ. Change Our Hearts uses these lectionary texts as a springboard to reflections on the meaning of our baptism and its implications for lifelong ministry. It celebrates the richness of our Catholic liturgy and tradition, encouraging readers to use the Lenten season as an opportunity to immerse themselves in thoughtful prayer, reflection, and practice. Each day features the lectionary citations for that day, a reflection on an aspect of the readings, and a closing prayer or practice. It emphasizes the major themes of Lent-- fasting, prayer, almsgiving, conversion, discipleship--tied into the heart of our baptism in Christ. Readers will also find a strong theme of social justice running through the book. Change Our Hearts is an excellent resource for general parish use. Each day features the lectionary citations for that day, a reflection on an aspect of the readings, and a closing prayer or practice. It is also an ideal book to use with RCIA candidates; by using this book with both parishioners and RCIA candidates, you will enable the entire faith community to join in reflection on the meaning of baptism and Christian discipleship in a challenging, inspired way.

This volume contains an entry for each day of Lent, beginning with Ash Wednesday and ending with Easter Sunday. The simple meditations, excerpted from Fr. Williams' popular "A Heart Like His," are meant to deepen a Christian's journey through Lent by learning to know Christ's heart more intimately.