"Journeying with Jesus:
A Lenten Retreat"

prepared by Women at the Well Ministry,
St. Paul, Minnesota,
Eleanor Lincoln, CSJ, and Catherine Litecky, CSJ
© copyright 2010

Sunday Readings for the 1st Sunday of Lent
Deuteronomy 26: 4-10
Romans 10: 8-13
Luke 4: 1-13

Week 1. Beginning the Journey

"Reconcile us to you, O God, that we put on the holiness of Christ and give you glory. Help us to live the season as true disciples on our way to transformation and fullness of life. Grant this as we journey to you with Jesus, our brother. Amen."



This prayer can provide a focus for your Lenten journey with Jesus.

No journey goes in a straight line to its destination. That is true of our journey through life and in Lent.

You may be familiar with these famous lines from T. S. Eliot's poem from Four Quartets, entitled "Little Gidding":

"We shall not cease from exploration
and the end of all our exploring
Will be to arrive where we started
And know the place for the first time."

Look at the photo of the steps. What does the photo say to you? Journeys take many forms: steps like the
ones pictured, a walk in the woods, a drive to work, flying to visit relatives. There are also interior journeys
like the one you will undertake this Lent.

Through sketching or in writing, trace the steps of a journey that was important to you, that changed
you. During this Lenten retreat it may be helpful to keep a record of significant ideas or moments in this
journey.

Our most important journey is our lifelong journey with Christ. Jesus is the Way who leads us to God. Lent is a particular journey leading us each year to new life in the risen Christ. This is the life we share through our Baptism and through walking with Jesus.

Scripture is the best guide we can use for our Lenten journey and indeed for our life's journey. Take a look again at the prayer printed at the beginning of this Retreat. Note these two phrases in particular: "on our way" and "as we journey to you with Jesus."

One way to get a sense of what scripture is telling us during Lent is to follow the Sunday gospels which can so beautifully lead us along our Lenten journey. These gospel stories call Christians into dialogue with one another, with the disciples, and with Jesus. The gospel reading for the First Sunday of Lent is the Temptation of Christ taken from Luke (4:1-13).

As part of your Lenten observance, you may want to pray with the Sunday gospel each week. You can find
reflections on them in the Sunday by Sunday leaflets referred to on this web site.

The journey theme is an important part of Luke's gospel (9:51-19:27). Luke uses the image of a geographical journey to represent the journey of discipleship. On this journey Jesus instructs his followers (and us) about what it means to be a disciple (learner).

If you have your New Testament handy, refer to these chapters now. You may want to pray with this "journey narrative" in Luke's gospel which forms almost half of that gospel.

In Luke's gospel Jesus shows his followers that their mission is to proclaim God's kingdom and to heal those in need of healing. He tells them that discipleship means to deny themselves, take up their cross daily, and "follow him" (9:24). He also counsels them, "For the one who is least among all of you is the one who is the greatest" (9:48).

Jesus does not make discipleship sound easy! "No one who sets a hand to the plow and looks to what was left behind is fit for the kingdom of God" (9:62). But he also tells them about the privileges of discipleship: "Whoever listens to you, listens to me" (10:16) and "Many prophets and kings desired to see what you see, but did not see it" (10:24).

Along the journey the disciples are reminded of the great commandment about loving neighbor as self. Jesus illustrates the importance of this love or compassion in the parable of the Good Samaritan (10:29-37). Immediately afterwards in Jesus' encounter with Martha and Mary at Bethany (10:38-42), they see that discipleship is for both men and women and that both prayer and good works are essential to being a disciple.

Later in the journey Jesus says, "Whoever is not with me is against me" (11:23). About prayer he tells them, "Ask and you shall receive" (11:9). True blessedness consists of hearing the word of God and keeping it (11:27-28).

Jesus reminds them that by seeking the kingdom of God they will be given all else for "where your treasure is, there also will your heart be" (12:34). Continuing to call them to repentance, he tells them the parable of the barren fig tree (13:1-9).

Jesus keeps reminding his followers about the demands of discipleship and tells them many other parables:

  the parable of the Mustard Seed (13:18-19),
  the parable of the Great Feast (14:15-24).

He illustrates God's mercy for sinners with other parables:

  the lost sheep (15:1-7),
  the lost coins (15:8-10)
  the prodigal son (15:11-32).

Jesus shows his disciples

  how to meet with opposition (12:1-59),
  how to share their possessions with the needy (16:1-31).

Again and again Jesus reminds his disciples of the importance of repentance and three times he predicts his passion (9:22, 9:43-45, and 18:31-34).

As we know, Jesus' arrival in Jerusalem means that he will have to pay the price for his message of reconciliation and final transformation. The disciples gradually learn from their journey with Jesus what being a disciple means, but not until after Jesus' resurrection and the coming of the Holy Spirit do they fully understand.

For us the journey of the forty days of Lent is a time to consider our own journey with Jesus. This journey involves prayer and fasting. Jesus teaches us that the way to God involves facing ourselves in our weaknesses and temptations.

As Americans we faced a catastrophe on September 11, 2001 which showed us the evil of terror. As a nation we underwent a collective examination of conscience--which ultimately called forth tremendous human courage and compassion. We learned in a dramatic way the futility of worldly power and glory and now are facing the desert of human weakness and war.

In the gospel for the first Sunday of Lent (Luke 4:1-13) Jesus is tempted by worldly power and glory when the Spirit leads him into the desert. There he is tempted by the devil.

During this time Jesus fasts for forty days and forty nights where he is tempted by the devil. Afterwards he is hungry. The tempter tries to make him accept worldly power and glory, but Jesus refuses, knowing that he is called to be a prophet. He choses to turn down the tempter's three offers: to satisfy his human hunger, to be protected from harm, and to have all the kingdoms of the world subject to him.

In refusing these temptations Jesus shows that he is truly one of us. Like us he needed to make choices. When he begins his public ministry after his time in the desert, his choices lead him on a journey that involves suffering and death but that ultimately leads to his glory.

During Lent we are called to walk with Jesus on this journey as we face the difficulties of this life--and death itself. But we trust that the final stage of this journey will lead us to be united with Jesus in the glory of God.

Take some time now to reflect on the Ash Wednesday prayer that was given at the beginning of this Retreat:

"Reconcile us to you, O God, that we put on the holiness of Christ and give you glory. Help us to live the season as true disciples on our way to transformation and fullness of life. Grant this as we journey to you with Jesus, our brother. Amen."

"Journeying with Jesus: A Lenten Retreat" will continue with Week 2:

Discipleship