"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

Readings for Easter Sunday
Acts of the Apostles 10: 34, 37-43
Colossians 3: 1-4
John 20: 1-9

Week 6. Transformation in Christ

"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 journey with Jesus from Lent to Easter.



Nature renews itself each spring, and spring is time for our renewal too. Even baseball teams renew themselves through spring training. Homeowners give their houses and yards an annual spring cleanup. Lent, sometimes called "the springtime of the soul," gives each of us the time and motivation to renew ourselves with God's grace.

Transformation in Christ means becoming a whole person, a person who is fully developed physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually--someone who lives in wisdom and within the context of God's love.

As whole persons, we live in a way that expresses who we really are in our deepest and truest self in relationship to God, other people, and all of creation. It is this wholeness that leads to holiness. St. Irenaeus of the fourth century says, "The glory of God is a person fully alive."

You have had the opportunity this Lent, to work toward transformation in several ways:

    by deepening your relationship with God;
    by increasing your own self-understanding and self-knowledge;
    by calling others to discover their own gifts and talents;
    by having a loving awareness of all that is aroung you in creation.

You can deepen your relationship with God when

    * you deal with life's sorrows and joys in the context of this love and live in the present moment (which is the only moment you have!);

    * you are attuned to the beauty and goodness of creation;

    * you are concerned about what still needs transformation in yourself and in the world.

Increasing your own self-understanding and self-knowledge is a way to deepen your relationship with yourself by being aware of what is within and outside yourself and by being attentive to what your senses and your heart tell you.

This attentiveness or awareness is central to the spirituality of two famous spiritual models, St. Therese of Lisieux of the 19 century and the Dalai Lama living today in exile from Tibet. St. Therese was aware of God;s presence in everything she did and was aware at every moment that God loved her intimately. The Dalai Lama, world-famous Buddhist who practices Zen mysticism, teaches the importance of being attentive to each small thing in creation.

You can keep your mind alive by accepting change with an open mind. Listen to yourself through paying attention to your body, your emotions and your imagination. A helpful way to grow in awareness is to keep a spiritual journal as an on-going way of reflecting on your life's journey.

Writing your reflections in a journal will help you to move toward transformation in Christ.

Each morning you might ask yourself questions like these: "What one thing can I do today that will make a difference for someone?" and "How can I bring a blessing to someone today?"

Each evening you might ask yourself other questions: "What has been most life-giving to me today?" Where did I miss an opportunity to be loving?"

We are familiar with the usual disciplines of Lent; prayer, fasting, and almsgiving. Although we often think of fasting as abstaining from food, fasting can bring these three disciplines together and lead us toward transformation.

* Fasting from discontent will lead to feasting on gratitude.
* Fasting from worry will lead to feasting on hope.
* Fasting from self-concern will lead to feasting on compassion for others.
* Fasting from pride will lead to feasting on humility.
* Fasting from fear will lead to feasting on trust and faith.
* Fasting from resentment will lead to feasting on contentment.
* Fasting from self-pity will lead to feasting on joy.
* Fasting from judging others will lead to feasting with the resurrected Christ.

Personal transformation leads to transformation in Jesus Christ who rose from the dead and now sits at the right hand of God.

John, in his first Letter, describes this transformation: "See what love God has given us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are. The reason why the world does not know us is that it did not know Jesus. Beloved, we are God's children now; it does not yet appear what we shall be, but we know that when Jesus appears we shall be like him . . ." (3:1-2).

As your retreat comes to a close and you prepare to enter the season of Easter, thank God for the privilege of walking with Jesus during this Lenten journey. Ask God to give you the courage and strength to live your life in the spirit of the Risen Christ.

You might want to use as a mantra this prayer taken from the longer prayer used at the beginning of this Retreat:

"Help me to live as a true disciple on the way to transformation and fullness of life. Amen."

As you complete this Lenten journey,
May you celebrate Easter
as a transformed Christian.
May you know Easter peace and joy!