1st Sunday in Lent

Our readings for the 1st Sunday in Lent are:

1. Deuteronomy 26: 4-10
   
2. Psalms 91: 1-2, 10-11, 12-13, 14-15
3. Romans 10: 8-13
   
4. Luke 4: 1-13

• Grateful for Lent
  
• Even in Southern California we have seasons.  Those changes in the length of days, the temperature of the air, the plants and animals around us remind us that we are all part of a rhythm of life that includes us, but doesn't necessarily revolve around us.
• What do you bring to this Lent that you have never entered Lent with before?
• Where would you like to be at the end of this Lent?
• How does Lent fit into the larger journey of your life as a whole?
• How has God prepared you for this Lent?
  

• Wingman
  
• My mother-in-law inhabited a world graced with angels of every kind.  I think that she drew comfort knowing that the members of her family were looked over by angels when she could not be there herself.  She trusted those guardians and doubtless prayed that her family members would never stray from their protection.
• What do you hope that God and His angels are sheltering you from?
• What do you think your guardian angel's face looks like when they gaze on you?  Haggard from all the work that you give them, fondness because they have grown to love you through all of your ups and downs, or maybe cheering you on as you struggle to step into the destiny that God is setting before you?
• What might you do to make life a little easier for your angelic wingman?
  

• Where do you find shame
  
• Shame is a powerful emotion - the realization that your behavior/words demonstrate that you are not the person that you thought yourself to be.  Shame comes to us when we see the gulf between the gifts that God has given us, and our use of those gifts.  The world around us tries to saddle us with a very different sort of shame, a shame at not achieving what others think we ought to be capable, not acquiring what should be our due.
• Think about something that you may have been actively ashamed of, or maybe still are ashamed of.
• Why did/do you feel that way?
• Who did you fail in that event of your life?
• Can you see any good come from that experience?
  

• Who are you?
  
• Each temptation in Luke's gospel begins with "If you are the son of God."  Satan never questions Jesus' identity.  What he does question is how Jesus is going to live that identity out in his life of ministry.
• Who would you say you are as a Christian, a professional/retired person, a member of your family?
• What do all of those identities have in common?
• How do those various identities support, illuminate, and inform each other?
• Do you feel that you are being faithful to who you ultimately are in each of those identities?
  

• Preparation for Reconciliation:

1. Where is God taking me this Lent?
2. How is God sustaining and nurturing me today?
3. Where is God offering me healing in shame?
4. Who is God calling me to be today?

Shalom and a blessed Lent to you!