Disciples Embark on Lenten Journey

By Michelle Parsons, Parish Nurse

"For the sake of the joy that lay before him, Jesus endured the cross." Hebrews 12:2

"…do not disdain the discipline of the Lord or lose heart when reproved by him; for whom the Lord loves he disciplines…endure your trials as discipline; God treats you as his sons. At the time, all discipline seems a cause not for joy but for pain, yet later it brings the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who are trained by it." Hebrews 12:4-7

The Lenten journey is an opportunity to reflect and draw away to a place of introspection. Christ invites us by his example to withdraw to the dry places of our lives to gain perspective and reach for solace and healing. To be more fully alive in the miracle of His resurrection let us find water on the journey for the places in our lives that thirst for healing.

Christ endured the trial of His Passion to offer the ultimate gift of compassion through the forgiveness of sins. Literally "passion" means "to suffer" and "compassion" means "to suffer with." The Lenten journey calls us then to unite our suffering to the suffering of Christ. The journey calls us to open ourselves to the water of compassion and to be the water of compassion for others.

Life and relationship bring joy and sorrow, celebration and trial. When viewed through the lens of faith we begin to see all experience as a gift that shapes our character, reveals our purpose and makes us more of who God desires for us to be. We may not invite our trials in but we do choose how we receive them.

The word "discipline" comes from the same root word as the word "disciple", "discipulus" which means to discern as a pupil. Thereby to be disciplined is to be a student, or a Disciple, shaped and formed through training that brings about growth in moral, mental or physical character. To be disciplined is to be molded in spirit, mind and body.

What do you thirst most for in your life? What trials have you endured on the way and what trial most urgently faces you now? Embrace that place where you are most in need and carry it forward along The Way of the Cross as a dry place thirsting for growth and healing

As you drink from the cup of compassion this Lenten season, may your thirst be satisfied to overflowing that you may in turn pass the cup to another in need.