​“My son, you are here with me always; everything I have is yours.”

These words of the father to the eldest son in the parable of the prodigal son struck me in a new way as I was praying with today’s Gospel. I can imagine God the Father speaking such words to me, and I am moved by the immensity of such a statement.

I’ve been walking my own personal journey with God for many years now. At moments, I feel as if I am at the heights of spirituality and love for the Lord. At other times, I find my prayer and this journey feeling dry and mundane, typically due to the fact that I have too easily forgotten the constant presence of the Lord in my life who speaks to me those words: “You are here with me always.” When I lose the awareness of the Lord who is continually standing and walking beside me, I begin to lose sight of who I am and, more importantly, whose I am. In this season of Lent, the Lord calls out to us in the midst of the desert, and His desire is for us to know that He is walking with us through the desert. He is still there even when it may feel dry and mundane. When we continue to dwell in the Lord, our hearts become more deeply conformed to His own Sacred Heart.

What a gift it is to dwell with the Lord. And yet even beyond that, the Lord has an inheritance for us bigger and greater than our wildest imaginations: “Everything I have is yours.” Everything good belongs to and comes from the Lord; all is gift. When we bring ourselves to humbly acknowledge that fact, we can find the freedom the Lord offers us and the invitation to fullness of life in eternity. The Lord desires to give us something even greater than the nicest car or the biggest house or the most priceless antique. He desires to give us eternal life. As we continue to fast through the final weeks of Lent, may it bring us to desire the Lord in his fullness and glory at Easter that much more.

Are you aware of God's presence in every moment of your life? In what times do you do this well and in what times do you do this poorly?

What are some things that you put in front of your true inheritance? What are some things that you put before everything God has that He wants to give to you?

How does this whole story change for you if you take the role of the elder son? Can you see yourself in his shoes at all?

"I am your beloved son/daughter, Lord."

"Jesus, I trust in you."

​"Come Holy Spirit."

Remember your inheritance. Remember what God is giving to you. And don't let other, lesser goods get in the way. Take some time throughout your day today and try to recognize God's presence in those moments, as average or mundane as they may seem.

Today’s Gospel is one of Jesus’ many instructions on prayer. The Our Father gets the rightful pride of place in our tradition for how to pray to God, but today Jesus gives us another, less famous prayer: “O God, be merciful to me a sinner.” It is simple, it is challenging, and it is prayer altering.

When God gives us the language to pray to him, it causes me to stop and ponder: “Why does Jesus give us these words to imitate, and how do my prayers align with the words or intentions of Jesus’ instruction?”

In prayer, do you lead with your weakness and need, or do you lead with your strength and virtue?

At the heart of Jesus’ parable is this powerful question. The Pharisee begins his prayer with everything he is good at, does well, or is better at than others. The Pharisee comes before God highlighting how awesome he is, and thus isn’t really focused on God, but on himself. His prayer is from a place of pride.

The tax collector, on the other hand, begins and ends his prayer with his weakness and need “O God, be merciful to me a sinner.” He doesn’t claim to have earned God’s love, mercy, or relationship, but rather is totally conscious of a need for God’s mercy on account of his poverty and sin. The tax collector prays because he needs it; his very life depends on it, and he knows it. He wears no masks before God, and opens his heart. He leads with his weakness and he is heard.

​How do we pray? Do we lead with our weakness before God? Do we come to God aware of our total need for him, and pray from a heart that is weak, humble, and hungry? Or, like the Pharisee, do we approach God by highlighting all of the good deeds we do, prayers we say, virtues we have, people we aren’t like, and offering to God all the things we are amazing at?

It is hard to pray from our weakness. It is hard to pray from the places in our life, our past, and our character that are still far from Christ-like. It is humbling to come before God as we actually are, not as how we try to appear on social media, at school, or at work. While it is hard, this is exactly how Jesus wants us to come to him in prayer. Why? Because it is the only way to really pray, it is where prayer from the heart begins.

​When the mask comes off, true relationship can begin. The reading says the tax collector was justified and exalted because his prayer was proper. Christ wants to transform us in the same way through our prayer, if we only let him. We let Christ begin the transformation when we pray from our weakness and need for God.

When you come to prayer, do you begin from your weakness and need?

How can you in humility present to God your heart, weakness and all, more fully in prayer?

​What is on your heart right now that you need to bring before the Lord? In your weakness, where do you need his strength today?

"Jesus, I trust in you."

"You power is made perfect in my weakness."

"You are enough."

In order to help your heart turn outward today, compliment at least 3 people in your life. Tell them the things you admire about them, things that they're good at, and ways that you look up to them. Don't ask for anything in return and don't make a big deal out of it; just look at others and acknowledge the good in them. 

​Jesus loves simplicity.

Have you ever watched a juggler who seemed to be doing perfectly fine just as he adds the final ball which tips the scales and leads quickly to everything falling apart? Have you ever tried to build a house of cards and then, just as you’re about to celebrate pulling off a feat of paper engineering, watched as everything collapses in an instant?

Sometimes Lent can feel like that for me. Throughout the rest of the year I am as busy as I can handle, juggling lots of balls and carefully placing one card on top of the other. I go about my day balancing the demands of life, relationships, personal prayer, reading scripture, regularly giving alms, brushing twice a day and trying to keep my bed made in the morning, and all of the sudden Lent comes around and I’m supposed to add more fasting, more prayer, and more giving?! A few days after Ash Wednesday I’m ready to say, “Jesus, I already feel maxed out and I don’t have anything else to give.”

Right as we’re tempted to look at the complexities and clutter of our lives and throw in the towel, we are reminded that Jesus is the master of simplicity. With his piercing eyes of love, He is able to see through the fog of confusion and get right to the heart of the matter.

The Jewish people were no strangers to complexity. By the time Jesus came around, they were regularly practising over 600 prescribed ritual laws and they come to Jesus quizzing him, asking what the greatest commandment is.

“The Lord our God is Lord alone! You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength. The second is this: You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”

In the midst of the hundreds of laws that the Jews struggled to follow, Jesus is able to sum up all of life into two simple commands: Love God, and love your neighbor. Jesus loves simplicity.

Catherine Doherty, foundress of the Madonna House movement, coined the phrase, “I am Third,” which can be found all the walls of Madonna House chapters all over the world. It’s meant to be a reminder that in our lives God always comes first, our neighbor second, and ourselves third.

The Church is not trying to heap extra complexity onto your lives this Lent! The Church is inviting you to go back to the basics. Through prayer, fasting, and almsgiving we learn to place God back at the center of our lives, and learn how to live in service to our brothers and sisters around us. For me, Lent serves as a much needed annual reminder that “I am Third.” It’s very simply really, and Jesus loves simplicity.

How is your lent going? Are you feeling burned out? How are you sacrificing?

How can you put God first and others second?

Where are you making your faith life too complex?

"Jesus loves simplicity."

​"Love God, love one another."

"I am Third."

Reflect on the phrase "I am Third." Write it down and put it somewhere where you can look at it each day.

"If today you hear His voice, harden not your hearts." Today's Responsorial Psalm reminds us of the reality that God is still communicating to us. I sometimes think it stinks that I can't just call up God and talk to Him like I would a regular person. That way, I could get an immediate response from Him and maybe even get an explanation or two for some of the questions I have.  However, God's ways of communication to us is actually way better than that, even if a nice phone call or texting conversation with God would seem easier. God is calling you, talking to you, showering His loving words down to you, answering your questions and giving you a road map of how to live a fulfilling and joyful life through the words of the Bible. He is talking you specifically in every chapter and verse, even though the passages were written thousands of years ago. Every word is a communication of His love and how He wants a relationship with you.

It takes faith, trust, hope, and prayer to see this reality. It can be hard, but He has given us the helps we need to do so. Jesus gives us the graces we need to open our hearts and hear His words. He comes to us in the Mass in a real and tangible way every time you go to church. He is always reaching out, and if you ask for his help to hear Him, He will. It might take some time to understand how He is communicating with you, what it is that He wants you to hear, but stick with it and be patient. God is always working and it's not always in the ways we expect.

Sometimes when things get hard, I harden my heart towards God. It's a struggle I have that I'm especially trying to work on this Lent. School has been stressful and the future seems uncertain and a little scary. But today's Psalm is one of the many constant reminders that true joy is in God. I don't need to stress or be worried, instead I need to offer my heart to God and let Him speak to my heart His words of love and salvation. How are we all to respond to God? The Psalm tells us "come, let us sing joyfully to the LORD... Let us come into his presence with thanksgiving." Even though we go through  difficult and uncertain times, even if we cannot always tangibly hear God's voice, we still can always have joy and be thankful for all the blessings that surround us. We can be in His actual presence through the Eucharist and soak up those graces He has to offer. 

Open your heart to God. Let go of your troubles and entrust them into His hands in prayer. Ask the Holy Spirit to help you recognize where/how God is communicating to you. And when you hear His voice, harden not you heart, but rejoice and be glad. 

What is hardening your heart from God? What do you need to offer Him or in what ways do you need to open up to Him in order to hear His voice?

Are you seeking to hear God's voice?  Where have you heard Him speaking to your heart before, even if you did not know He was telling you something at the time?
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​What words do you think God is trying to communicate to you? What do you need to hear from Him?

"Open my heart, Lord."

"I want to hear you."

"Help me to follow you."

Today spend some extra time praying with the Scriptures. Really meditate on what you think God is trying to say to you, and ask the Holy Spirit for His help with this. Don't try to force anything, but let the Spirit guide your heart. If you can, go to adoration and pray in presence of God, Himself.