Thursday of the Second Week of Lent

Today's Readings

“Yet even now,” says the Lord, “return to me with all your heart, with fasting, with weeping, and with mourning; and tear your hearts and not your garments.” Return to the Lord, your God, for he is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and abounding in mercy, and repents of evil.

- Joel 2:12-13

Lent is meant to be a season wherein we, like Jesus, enter the desert to encounter the Father through prayer and fasting. It is meant to be a time of intentionally carving out a space for the Lord in our hearts and in our lives. It is a call to conversion. I think when most people think of conversion, especially with regard to the spiritual life, they think of St. Paul on the road to Damascus. I know that is where my head can sometimes go. That is not the kind of conversion the Lord is asking of us in most cases. More often than not, the call to conversion is meant to be practiced in little ways. It is meant to be lived in the day in and day out of our lives. It is amazing just how much room can be opened for the Lord when we embrace the small sacrifices of Lent.

Even here in the convent the call to conversion still stands. Albeit it looks a bit different now, but nonetheless conversion is required. When I first entered the community, I spent six months at one of our nursing homes. My time there coincided, not so perfectly, with the emergence of the Pandemic. I found myself in a chaotic and constantly changing environment in the home. And yet, somehow, there was peace, quiet, and conversion. The reality of creating a space for the Lord within my heart was never more challenging and urgent as it was during March of 2020. I remember one instance very vividly. The Sisters were assisting with serving and feeding at mealtimes. It was St. Patrick’s Day, and overall the day had been particularly overwhelming. I was given the option to not assist at the meal. While I desperately wanted to take advantage of that offer, something within my heart told me to go over and serve. As I sat with one of our residents and fed them their dinner a certain quiet settled over the room. And there, in the midst of all the chaos and uncertainty, a space was carved out in my heart for the Lord to draw even closer. The whole day, and really that whole Lenten season, was a call to conversion. To let go of, and turn away from, my plans and ideas of what my first months in religious life “should have” looked like, was all the Lord was asking of me. What’s more is that, in abandoning my notions, my heart began to be converted and a deeper space for the Lord began to be carved out.

Ultimately, the call and challenge of Lent is to make space for the Lord to move in our lives, speak to our hearts, and call us to a deeper conversion. The aim of Lent is to do exactly as Jesus did. Namely, to very deliberately embrace an emptiness and openness that enables us to draw closer to the Father. Whether it is through fasting from something we enjoy, taking time for a particular prayer devotion, or engaging in some kind of service to those around us, the goal is the same: enter the desert and make room for the Lord.

As we progress through the rest of the Lenten season, my prayer is that we will be open to encountering the Lord in whatever ways He is inviting us, no matter how small. And that, in doing so, our hearts will be converted back to Him.

Sr. Michelle Elizabeth Nicosia, O. Carm. 

SFC Class of 2019