“Love is always a gift and the only thing God asks of us is that we remember how much we are loved. And because, as I hope we all know, the only thing love asks for is love.“

The witness of saints like Serenus challenges us to reflect on how we cultivate the “garden” that is our own spiritual life.

The liturgy for this Friday of the Third Week of Lent calls us back to the essentials of love of God and love of neighbor.

In choosing to love and pray for those who might be opposed to us, we are making real the possibility of reconciliation, peace, and renewed relationships.

As we offer back to “Our Father” the words that we have received from the One who is himself the Word Incarnate, we can have confidence that God hears us and desires to bless us as we continue along our pilgrim way.

The Season of Lent reminds us that holiness is really only possible for us if we enter into the struggle, remembering that whatever darkness we may encounter will not overtake us.

Jesus’ desire for his followers is to help make the Reign of God a reality in the world by combatting evil and injustice responsibly and courageously because God’s Reign demands that we live lives of love and compassion.