Please join us for the Wilderness Within Lenten Morning of Reflection taking place on Saturday, March 8, from 10:00 – 11:45 am in Hickey Hall. Hosted by The Way and the OLPH Engagement Ministry.
One of the things we appreciate about our parish is it provides us with helpful resources during Advent and Lent. This year will be no different with the Magnificat Lenten Companion and Little Black Book available on Ash Wednesday. We want to share with you another Lenten resource The Way has discovered. It’s an easy daily Lenten journal from Ave Maria Press that will help us get to the heart of Lent--delving into our hearts and what God wants us to discover there. We plan to use this book for the upcoming Lenten Morning of Reflection on Saturday, March 8 but we thought some of you might want to read it as well starting on Ash Wednesday so we’re providing some helpful details below. Whatever form your Lenten journey takes, we pray you have a fruitful Lent and hope to see you at upcoming Lenten events in March and April. – The Way Leaders
This Lent, allow Sr. Josephine Garrett to be your guide as you explore the interior wilderness of your heart and invite Jesus in to heal you with his love.
Have you ever wondered why Jesus went into the wilderness? Some believe it was to reveal his divinity or to restore humanity’s relationship with God. In Wilderness Within, Sr. Josephine Garrett, a mental health counselor and popular speaker, reflects on the belief that Jesus went into the wilderness to rescue us—to rescue us! The Lord does not want us to view the wilderness as something that causes worry, anxiety, or fear. “What if, instead,” Sr. Josephine writes, “we looked at how God has been a faithful provider in the wilderness and trusted that He will do the same for us in the wilderness journey ahead? What if we joyfully take His hand and journey into the wilderness, because when Christ enters there, ‘this opposite place of the garden becomes the place of reconciliation and healing’” (Pope Benedict XVI, Jesus of Nazareth)?
In Wilderness Within, Sr. Josephine will guide you through the forty days of Lent to attend to the wilderness of your heart as a place to be explored, restored, and sent on mission by Jesus’s tender love.
Week of Ash Wednesday: Enter Lent by recognizing your ability to always begin anew in Christ.
Week One: Open your heart to God’s love, allowing yourself to reverence your heart as a gift from your Creator.
Week Two: Reflect on the truth that we are created for relationships and examine the relationships in your life.
Week Three: Take an honest look at your limitations, wounds, and sin guided by a spirit of humility and repentance.
Week Four: Begin to see how God designed your heart to be rescued by him and grow in your capacity to be healed by him.
Week Five: Leave the wilderness of your heart so that you can go on mission—with a heart restored by Christ’s love—to love your neighbor and be a good steward of the gifts and charisms given to you.
Holy Week: Follow in Jesus’s footsteps to the Cross and discover how you can love him well through each stage of the Passion and Resurrection.
Each day’s content includes brief meditations, specially crafted illustrations, thought-provoking reflection questions, heartfelt prayers curated to uplift your spirit, and ample journaling space for personal revelations and insights. There are also free companion videos featuring Sr. Josephine.
Not sure? Click HERE to watch a YouTube video to learn more
1. Purchase the book Wilderness Within ($13.95) on Amazon or AveMariaPress.com today so you are ready before Lent begins
2. Read the Introduction and How to Use this Journal before Ash Wednesday, March 5
3. Begin reading the book chapters on Ash Wednesday, March 5. Read and journal each day for 40 days and through Holy Week.
4. Watch the weekly video with St. Josephine on Ave Maria Press’ YouTube channel or at avemariapress.com/private/page/wilderness-within-videos
5. RSVP for the Wilderness Within Lenten Morning of Reflection taking place on Saturday, March 8, from 10:00 – 11:45 am in Hickey Hall. Hosted by The Way and the OLPH Engagement Ministry.
Who is Sr. Josephine Garrett?
Sr. Josephine Garrett, CSFN, is a sister of the Holy Family of Nazareth, a licensed counselor, host of the Hope Stories podcast, and a Catholic speaker and author. Garrett earned a bachelor’s degree in political philosophy from the University of Dallas. Prior to entering religious life, she worked as vice president in the home loans division of Bank of America. In 2019, she earned a master’s degree in clinical mental health counseling from the Chicago School of Professional Psychology and became a nationally certified counselor licensed in Texas. She worked as a school counselor in Tyler, Texas, and is presently serving as a counselor in private practice. Garret is a voice for mental health on various platforms such as Formed and Hallow.