A Lenten gift

By Suzanne Moynihan, SSND

Gifts come in strange packages. Lent is one of them: forty days of increased introspection, insight and intention.

Introspection: Diving into the heart of Silence

As Lent begins, we embrace the remaining winter darkness, taking advantage of its call to slow down, to embrace each moment mindfully, to contemplate. Letting ourselves sink into the nobility of who we are is one of the graced invitations of Lent.

But our introspection cannot stop at me. Our self-interest goes beyond our confining ego boundaries to embrace the universe from whence we came, one with divine evolutionary energy. Because God, Creator, is our source, and we are one with all beings.

Insight: Seeing the Whole Picture

Our insight, then, is honed in the world, embedded in its concerns, pulsing with hope.

The bells of mindfulness are calling out to us,
trying to wake us up, and reminding us
to look deeply at our impact on the planet.
(Thich Nhat Hanh, Spiritual Ecology, p. 25.)

Global warming, also exacerbating social issues, has produced planetary chaos: devastating weather events, crop damage, the rising of ocean waters—all costly for humans and all living beings.

We stand at an evolutionary crossroads,
and we collectively could turn either way.
(Joanna Macy; Active Hope, p. 100)

The insight we need will be given to us.

Intention: Making Intuitive Calls a Reality

Given the gifts of our introspection and insights, we embrace these 40 days and the promising wonders of spring with focused hope. Whatever we do to grow personally has an effect on the whole—an ancient mystical truth now proven by science. This is our intent during Lent and we enact it as best we can, fulfilling our miraculous privilege as School Sisters of Notre Dame: to embrace and continue to make real “that oneness for which Jesus Christ was sent” in the context of a broken world bent on dividing us from each other and the rest of creation.