A Meditation for our Fourth Week of Lent in 2026

There are many things that we need to grow in our Christian faith.  I am an Urban Monastic as a part of my desire to grow. It feels like a place and a life where God can help me grow. There is the foundation we build upon that is God’s love, grace, and mercy. This is our sure foundation. It will not falter. It will not crumble. It will support all that will be built upon it. Let us not simply give lip service to our dependency on this foundation. In my pursuit of growth and maturity, it can be very easy to reach a point where the foundations I have let God build in my life can no longer support any more growth.

It is here that I must remind myself that Jesus invites me into less. Into simplicity. Into the simple undeserved gift of God’s love, grace, and mercy. And so I need to return my attention to the foundations. Only with the intimate and tender presence of God might the foundations deepen and widen. Every Lent I invite God to illuminate my soul so that I might see the darkness that lives in the shadows of my character and soul.  There is no shame here, for my imperfections are shown to me with the light of Christ’s love. A love that hopes all things and longs for us to invite the light of God into our depths. This same illumination often happens in my times of silence and contemplation. It is easy to overlook this work because it is humbling and difficult lifelong work. Yet, the more places that the light shines, the more I see the places I need to carefully clear away the darkness so that I may become more like Jesus. 

Lord, help me to live and move in Your light. Open my eyes to the realities of myself, my depths, my life, and my place in Your world. You have been faithful to walk with me in life and deep into my depths. Sustain your light within me, that I may be a light for myself and Your beloved. For one thing I do know, that though I was blind, now I see. Keep my feet upon Your firm foundation while I work on what You have shown me within myself.

May the Lord’s love warm your heart and enlighten your soul.