Life can get especially busy these days and full of distractions. So much so that we (me included) can frequently experience a lack of spiritual discipline or focus, failing to make time to pray faithfully or even devote serious thought to how we see ourselves and our relationship with God. 
Lent is a good time to remind ourselves that prayer, even thoughtful reflection is not complicated. Nor does it take an extraordinary effort. I prefer to think of prayer as simply a conversation with God – as detailed or as brief as the opportunity allows. For many of us, the Season of Lent becomes a perfect time to do this. It is the ideal time to make a well-intentioned effort; to rejuvenate the soul and reclaim a life undone by sin.
Through Jesus’ experience in the desert, he models for us that Lent can be a period of self-examination in our quest to understand the meaning of sin, forgiveness and salvation. In his book, Prayers About Everyday Stuff, John van Bemmel provides this thoughtful prayer for Lent:
I pray this Lent
that You will give me the courage
to do what I should to serve you better
in my brothers and sisters.
But first grace me with the honesty
to see myself for what I am,
not with the mask I wear for others to see.
Let that be the starting point –
the real me that you see –
of my conversion.
Van Bemmel’s prayer, simple though it is, embodies much of what Lent is for us. The courage to do better, and yes, the honesty and self-awareness that we are sinners, frequently hiding behind a mask, concealing our humanness from others.
There is hope – we live in the hope of conversion – that somehow the Lenten journey will move us closer to understanding and appreciating Christ’s ultimate sacrifice.
We thank the author of this article, Jeff Norton and the Columban Fathers in the United States for their articles.