Our Sisters shared such inspiring Lenten reflections in 2024 that we decided to publish excerpts from them for Ash Wednesday this year. Each one offers a rich opportunity for reflection.
Do you have - or have you written - a favorite quote for Lent? We will happily add it to the list! Email Us!
"Listen Each New Time," by Sister Margaret Malone, SSND
These words come from a banner we made for the beginning of Lent somewhere in the 1980s. For me they are still a starting point for my Lenten pilgrimage.
As in all things, I pray to follow the example of Jesus who was led by the Spirit to the desert. He wasn’t led to be tempted. He was led to listen to what God wanted from him at that time.
We too are called to listen to what God is asking of us in this time.
"Remember that You are Stardust," by Sister Celeste Reinhart, SSND
The traditional start to Lent on Ash Wednesday begins with the invocation, Remember that you are dust.
A more contemporary greeting, Remember that you are stardust, gives me a more hopeful start to my Lenten journey.
"Show Me Your Hands," shared by Cathy Feeney, SSND
Show me your hands. Do they have scars from giving?
Show me your feet. Are they wounded in service?
Show me your heart. Have you left a place for divine love? - Fulton Sheen
"We Do Not Walk Alone," by Delia Calis, SSND
Lent is a time of remembering who has walked our road before us.
We do not walk alone.
"Striving for Unity," shared by Ethel Hawley, SSND
As the desire of Jesus that all be one becomes more fully our own, our striving for unity embraces all humanity and the whole of creation. - YAS
"Do What You Can Do," shared by Pat Murphy, SSND
Do what you can do and pray to God to do what you cannot! - St. Augustine
"Oh, Darkness, You Have No Hold!" by Carole Tabano, SSND
The child plays once again in the warmth of newness
And God delights in the birth!
Oh Darkness, you have no hold!
"The God of No Matter Whatness," shared by Eileen Reilly, SSND
The God of no matter whatness ... dissolves the toxicity of shame and fills us with tender mercy.
- Greg Boyle, SJ
"My Heart is Changed," shared by Mary Roy Weiss, SSND
My heart is changed within me…all my compassion is aroused. - Hosea 11:8
