Great Lent

Day 37 of the Great Lent – Romans 8:12-27: The Spirit Who Prays When You Cannot
“We do not know what we should pray for as we ought, but the Spirit Himself makes intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered.”

Thirty-seven days of prayer. And Paul says: you do not know how to pray. Not properly. The words are insufficient. The understanding is incomplete.

But the Spirit knows. And the Spirit has been praying in you since before you opened your mouth. Every morning you thought you were dragging yourself to prayer by willpower, it was the Spirit. Every confession that broke through pride, it was the Spirit. Every “Abba” that escaped your lips in the dark was the Spirit crying through you.

You were never alone. Not for a single day of this fast.

For our journey today:
– Stop and listen
– Say “Abba”
– Groan with creation

Full reflection at Seeking Theosis

Day 36 of the Great Lent – Luke 19:1-10: Presence, Not Command

The rich young ruler (Day 25) was given a command: sell everything. He could not. He walked away sorrowful.

Zacchaeus was given no command at all. Jesus said: I am coming to your house. That is it. And in the presence of Christ at his table, Zacchaeus gave half of everything to the poor and offered fourfold restitution.

St. Ephrem: when Christ sits at a sinner’s table, the table becomes an altar.

Sometimes the presence does what the command cannot. Today: invite Him to your table. And let the proximity change you.

For our journey today:
– Come down from the tree
– Let the presence do the work
– Give back

Full reflection at Seeking Theosis

Day 35 of the Great Lent – John 9:1-41 – Samiyo Sunday – One Thing I Know

The Pharisees pressed him. Interrogated him. Demanded answers. Insisted Jesus was a sinner.

The man said: “Whether He is a sinner or not I do not know. One thing I know: that though I was blind, now I see.”

No theology. No credentials. No counter-argument. Just autobiography. I was there. Now I am here. And the distance between the two is Christ.

Thirty-five days. Can you say, honestly, in any area of your life: I was blind, now I see?

Full reflection at Seeking Theosis

Stretch Out Your Hand: St. Luke 6:1-12 “Then He said to the man, ‘Stretch out your hand.’ And he did so, and his hand was restored as whole as the other.” (6:10) A kind note to the readers, this blog pertains to the Saturday before the 6th Sunday of the Great Lent. Yesterday Christ came…

Day 33 of the Great Lent – St. Matthew 9:18–31 – The Interruption and the Resurrection

“The journey to one miracle was interrupted by another. Both were completed. Both were necessary. Both were the work of the same hands.”

St. Ephrem: Christ’s power is like the sun. It does not decide which plants to warm. It shines and everything within its reach is warmed. All it needs is contact.

The father’s public faith. The woman’s hidden faith. The blind men’s spoken faith. All different. All honoured. All sufficient.

For our journey today:
– Bring the dead thing
– Reach from behind
– Answer the question

New reflection on the blog.

Day 31 of the Great Lent – Mark 6:30-31 ” Come Apart and Rest. ”

The apostles returned from ministry exhausted. Not from failure. From faithfulness. They had preached, healed, and cast out demons. The crowd was pressing in. The needs were endless.

“They did not even have time to eat.”

Jesus said: come apart. Rest. Not because the work was wrong. Because the work needed a source. And the source is found in the silence.

St. Isaac the Syrian: the person who eliminates all empty space from the spiritual life eliminates the space where God does His deepest work.
For our journey today:
– Create a deserted place
– Stop feeding and be fed
– Recognize the scattered sheep

Full reflection at Seeking Theosis

Day 29 of the Great Lent – Romans 9:14-21: The Potter’s Hands
“Who are you to reply against God? Will the thing formed say to the one who formed it, ‘Why have you made me like this?'”
This feels harsh. Until you look at the hands.
These are the hands that touched the leper on Garbo Sunday. That straightened the bent woman on Kfiftho Sunday. That broke bread in the wilderness. That were nailed to wood on Great Friday.
The hands that shape you are the hands that bled for you. They are not cruel hands. They are gentle hands. Wounded hands. And they handle clay with care.
For our journey today:
– Be soft clay today
– Stop asking why
– Look at the potter’s hands
Full reflection at Seeking Theosis

Day 28 of the Great Lent – Kfiftho Sunday/Sunday of the Bent Woman – Luke 13:10-17
Eighteen years of looking at the ground. Seeing only feet, dust, and the hem of garments. Unable to look anyone in the eye. Unable to see the sky. The stars. The faces of people she loved.

Christ laid His hands on her. Immediately she was made straight. And glorified God.

St. Macarius: sin bends the soul downward. Toward the temporary. Toward the earthly. The bending is so gradual you do not notice. Until one day you cannot look up. And in that moment, Christ walks in.

Twenty-eight days of looking inward. Today: look up. The sky is still there.

Full reflection at Seeking Theosis