Use the following meditation to help you reflect more deeply on the Scripture (you may want to read the passage again).

I’ve talked to several friends in the past few weeks who have said that Lent this year has been particularly challenging. It has been for me. The thing is, when I am having a hard time in my life, I often forget that the spiritual space is always an aspect, and in fact, it can even be a main one. 

I am doing a 44-day consecration to St. Joseph right now. It’s a newly written consecration started by a former classmate of mine at Franciscan University of Steubenville. If you want to check it out and do it for yourself, click here. 

I’ve also had a rough past few weeks. Missing five days of work for a 103-degree fever started it, but after that I got off my daily discipline and prayer routine. With a few big transitions going on in my life – ones that I have been praying fervently about -- I got in myself into a pretty bad headspace and depressed place. I was feeling unrest, and unsure where to turn for peace. 

But last week in our support group for the consecration Greg wrote something that gave me so much clarity: 

“Serious Talk Time: Evil spirits don't want you to have peace. During this consecration, it is very normal and common to feel spiritually attacked. This means you may feel down or depressed, irritable or anxious, grumpy, doubtful about the faith, doubtful about other things in your life, or many other difficulties. It is important to have eyes to see that there is a spiritual battle being waged for your soul.

If you've been fighting with your spouse more than usual, less patient with your kids or others in your life, or in other ways find yourself tempted away from the life of virtue, realize that you are being influenced by the evil one. I don't say this to scare you - only to shine light on the dark ways of the evil one. The smallest light immediately casts away the darkness. Mary and Joseph can squash the devil like a clump of dirt between their fingers.

Feel free to post here to share your struggles, bring light to these dark efforts, and let them go.” 

I am sharing this with you now because I believe Lent is the same way for many of us, and I want Greg’s powerful reminder to help shine any light in the darkness if you are struggling as well. 

If you’re still struggling this Lent, stay close to the Lord. Arm yourself with the St. Michael prayer. I’ve found the wearing of the Miraculous Medal has really helped me through these few weeks. Make sure you are in a place of virtue, and beg the Lord for peace. 

Even just being aware of the spiritual attack going on is enough to clear our eyes in the haze and order it, in the name of Jesus, away. 

Lent can be heavy -- but the Lord is pruning us to bear fruit. The light is coming – we’re almost there. By the grace of God our small sufferings will be multiplied and we will be overflowing with joy on Easter day. 

Keep at it! 

These questions are to be used to talk to God; have a conversation with the Lord about these questions and what is going on in your heart as you pray today.

Where have I gotten off track lately?

What is disturbing my peace currently? How am I going to combat that?

Who am I walking with this Lent that will help me on this journey?

In this step, you listen. Stop talking, let God speak to your heart. You may repeat one of these short phrases to focus your mind on the Lord.

​"Bring me back to peace."

"The light is coming."

​"Bring light to the darkness."

In light of today's reading and your time spent in prayer with the Lord, what concrete action or actions will you take to let this encounter with the Lord bear fruit in you today?
​
Shed light on some of the darker parts of life today by inviting the Lord into them.

The following image is here for you to save and use as a background or lock screen on your smartphone or device to help you carry today's Lectio Divina with you the rest of the day.​

How do I complain about the process of building a relationship with God?

In what ways do I take God's providing for me, or his gift of eternal salvation, for granted?

How is God calling me to be more grateful for the things, big and small, in my life?

"I trust in your plan."

"Thank you for loving me."

​"Help me love selflessly."

Be specifically grateful for five things in your life today, however big or small, so that you can focus less on yourself and more on the Lord.

“I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”

That is Jesus. The light of our world. The beacon we strive to reach. The lighthouse we navigate by on rough seas. When we live in His light, the darkness of the world has no power over us.

Where the sun is shining, there is no night. Where the light of Jesus shines, there is no darkness. The night, though, is not completely dark. Most nights, we can find a source of light as well. The moon. As we all know, the moon does not give off its own light, but reflects light of the sun. Just the same, we all can be as the moon for the others in our lives. We can be a light for others through whatever dark times they may be going through, by reflecting the light of Jesus ourselves. 

Keep yourself oriented towards Jesus. Not only will you personally not walk in darkness, but just like the face of the moon reflects the sun, you are then enabled to reflect the “light of the world” that Jesus is. You never can tell who you know that might be needing a bit of light in their lives. Virtually anyone you know or meet might be fighting some form of darkness at any given time. Strive to be the channel by which those in need can realize the light of Jesus. Do not be intimidated. Leave the real work to Jesus; He is the light, as He has said, you simply need to reflect that light and that love through your own life.

How has Jesus come into your life and changed it?

​What parts of your life do you need Jesus to shine his light?

​How can you reflect Jesus's light to others?

"The light of the world."

"Jesus is my light."

​"Lord, shine in my life."

Make a list of all the different parts of your life. Ask Jesus to come and shine His light in your life.

I’m always telling the students I work with that it’s crucial for us to pray with Scripture because it not only tells us about who we are, but it also tells us about who God is. And recently in my life, as I’ve spent time reflecting and praying with God’s Word, it seems like there is one consistent reality He’s been trying to get me to wrap my mind around (because truly I’m nothing if not unnecessarily stubborn). And here it is: our God is a God of impossible situations. 

It’s so easy for me, when it feels like I’m stuck between a rock and a hard place, to let despair and hopelessness settle in my heart, but the Lord has been constantly reminding me that impossible situations are exactly where He shows up. He’s a Hail Mary pass, David beats Goliath, parting the Red Sea, comes back from the dead kind of God. 

And in today’s reading from Isaiah, the Lord affirms this reality again and again: 
“In the desert I make a way, in the wasteland, rivers. Wild beasts honor me,
jackals and ostriches, for I put water in the desert and rivers in the wasteland.” 

I’m not sure how familiar you are with deserts and wastelands, but typically they’re some of the last places anyone would expect to find rivers. And as far as wild beasts go, they’re not typically much for honoring, because, you know...they’re wild. But the Lord, He finds a way where there is no way. In fact, the Lord reminds us today that when the tough gets going, it’s often because He’s “doing something new” in our lives. But the cross must come before the crown, the death before the Resurrection, the hopeless situation before the radical transformation.

So what is the situation in your life that it feels like God can’t/won’t overcome? Offer it to the Lord today, and trust that He finishes what He starts in us and that truly, as impossible as it may seem, He is “doing something new.”

What is God telling you about yourself in Scripture lately? What is God telling you about Himself in Scripture lately?

How is God trying to do something new in your life? What might that "something new" be?

How do you respond when things get tough? How do you respond when God is "doing something new?"

"Jesus, I trust in you."

"Come Holy Spirit."

​"Make me new."

Try to overcome the stubbornness in your heart and let the Lord do something new within you. Find a spiritual director if you don't have one, and talk to them about the ways God may be trying to do something new in your life right now.