During the season of Lent, Joan Chittister will provide a daily reflection to online readers, a kind of
Monastery Almanac for Lent.
Monday, March 30 — Vincent Van Gogh, the artist, who was born on this day in 1853 said once: “The
best way to know God is to love many things.” That’s why we have to fill life with the best: the best of
music, the best of art, the best of people, the best of literature, the best ideas, the best of the
spiritual life. Lent enables us to deal with the things that may seem to fill us but which really leave our
souls empty and barren.
Tuesday, March 31 — “My loneliness was like a letter I carried with me, and glanced at nervously, and
folded and unfolded, but never read,” Sy Safransky wrote. Lent is the silent time of the Church. Lent
calls us to go down into the hollow of ourselves and wrestle with our loneliness, asking day after day
for forty days: What growth is it that God is calling me to right now?
Wednesday, April 1 — After the calendar was standardized and January 1, instead of April 1, was defined
as the beginning of the year, those who refused to accept the new system were called “April Fools.” It
seems silly now, but it makes a point: We so often insist on keeping that which, if we lost it, wouldn’t
make a bit of difference. What are you clinging to now that is basically without substance? What life-
giving emptiness are you resisting?
Thursday, April 2 — Today is the birthday of Hans Christian Anderson. Born in 1805, Anderson wrote
children’s stories that taught a lot about the meaning of life. His story “The Emperor’s New Clothes” is
about a child who says out loud what the adults of the town had refused to face and admit—that
whatever the King himself said about his new clothes, the fact was that he was wearing no clothes at
all. It makes us think: What are we looking at that’s wrong in life but never say a word about? And why
is that: Has life made us full of fear or empty of values?
Friday, April 3 — Washington Irving, the author of “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow,” who was born on this
day in 1783 said once, “I am always at a loss to know how much to believe of my own stories.” And isn’t
it true? We fill ourselves with stories that we come to believe. Lent is an opportunity to empty out
what’s false in our lives and replace it with a truth worth having.
Saturday, April 4 — “Is there anything I can do to make myself Enlightened?” the disciple asked the holy
one. “As little as you can do to make the sun rise in the morning,” the holy one replied. “Then of what
use are the spiritual exercises you prescribe?” asked the disciple. “To make sure you are not asleep
when the sun begins to rise,” answered the holy one. Lent comes to a close soon. What spiritual
exercise will you continue–to sharpen the sights of your soul? It can be as simple as reading one psalm
verse a day, one paragraph of scripture, five minutes of quiet time to center your soul on higher things.
April 5, Palm Sunday — Today we commemorate the fact that the people of Jerusalem welcomed Jesus
with open arms. He was, for all intents and purposes, a great public success. His Word was heard. His
ministry was achieved. One week later, these same people turned him over to crucifixion or watched
silently while others did it. It happens to everyone. On the Palm Sundays of life, we have to learn to
enjoy them without expecting them to last. It isn’t Palm Sunday that’s important. What’s important is
that we pour our lives like oil for others.
Monastery Almanac for Lent.
Monday, March 30 — Vincent Van Gogh, the artist, who was born on this day in 1853 said once: “The
best way to know God is to love many things.” That’s why we have to fill life with the best: the best of
music, the best of art, the best of people, the best of literature, the best ideas, the best of the
spiritual life. Lent enables us to deal with the things that may seem to fill us but which really leave our
souls empty and barren.
Tuesday, March 31 — “My loneliness was like a letter I carried with me, and glanced at nervously, and
folded and unfolded, but never read,” Sy Safransky wrote. Lent is the silent time of the Church. Lent
calls us to go down into the hollow of ourselves and wrestle with our loneliness, asking day after day
for forty days: What growth is it that God is calling me to right now?
Wednesday, April 1 — After the calendar was standardized and January 1, instead of April 1, was defined
as the beginning of the year, those who refused to accept the new system were called “April Fools.” It
seems silly now, but it makes a point: We so often insist on keeping that which, if we lost it, wouldn’t
make a bit of difference. What are you clinging to now that is basically without substance? What life-
giving emptiness are you resisting?
Thursday, April 2 — Today is the birthday of Hans Christian Anderson. Born in 1805, Anderson wrote
children’s stories that taught a lot about the meaning of life. His story “The Emperor’s New Clothes” is
about a child who says out loud what the adults of the town had refused to face and admit—that
whatever the King himself said about his new clothes, the fact was that he was wearing no clothes at
all. It makes us think: What are we looking at that’s wrong in life but never say a word about? And why
is that: Has life made us full of fear or empty of values?
Friday, April 3 — Washington Irving, the author of “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow,” who was born on this
day in 1783 said once, “I am always at a loss to know how much to believe of my own stories.” And isn’t
it true? We fill ourselves with stories that we come to believe. Lent is an opportunity to empty out
what’s false in our lives and replace it with a truth worth having.
Saturday, April 4 — “Is there anything I can do to make myself Enlightened?” the disciple asked the holy
one. “As little as you can do to make the sun rise in the morning,” the holy one replied. “Then of what
use are the spiritual exercises you prescribe?” asked the disciple. “To make sure you are not asleep
when the sun begins to rise,” answered the holy one. Lent comes to a close soon. What spiritual
exercise will you continue–to sharpen the sights of your soul? It can be as simple as reading one psalm
verse a day, one paragraph of scripture, five minutes of quiet time to center your soul on higher things.
April 5, Palm Sunday — Today we commemorate the fact that the people of Jerusalem welcomed Jesus
with open arms. He was, for all intents and purposes, a great public success. His Word was heard. His
ministry was achieved. One week later, these same people turned him over to crucifixion or watched
silently while others did it. It happens to everyone. On the Palm Sundays of life, we have to learn to
enjoy them without expecting them to last. It isn’t Palm Sunday that’s important. What’s important is
that we pour our lives like oil for others.
FILL LIFE WITH THE BEST
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