We are in Holy Week, the end of another Lenten season, another time of “prayer, almsgiving and fasting,” and/or what other Lenten practices we have seen fit to take up. So, we are “in the home stretch,” heading to Good Friday and Easter Morning.

Is the home stretch where we pick up speed , bear down on doing/completing our Lenten practices right? Maybe we experienced a mid-Lenten slump (as many of us did) and see these last few days of Lent when we catch-up and finish well, maybe at the head of the pack. We’ll go all in on our spirituality, put out the extra effort and all will be well for another Lent. Maybe many of us at times feel this sort of pressure?

But is that what our Lenten practices are about, or for that matter any spiritual practice or discipline?

Rather, is it a matter of focusing on how we make room for God in our lives, how we not only carve out a space in our soul but how we give that space fully over to God to empty and fill as we need?

The prayer of Richard of Chichester is a good refrain to bear in mind during Lent, the Easter season and during each day. Maybe what this prayer and Lenten practices offer is a reminder that we are called to focus on the essentials of a life in which we walk with Jesus.

Day by day
Oh, Dear Lord
Three things I pray
To see thee more clearly
Love thee more dearly
Follow thee more nearly
Day by day

charles

{ubi caritas et amor, deus ibi est}