Alliance for Catholic Education
Dear Friends,
As we enter the season of Lent, the Alliance for Catholic Education and the Institute for Educational Initiatives invite you to join us in a shared journey of growth and renewal. Each Sunday through Easter, we will offer a brief reflection to accompany us as we seek to reorient our hearts toward God and one another.
May God continue to bless you and your loved ones throughout this holy season.
~ The Alliance for Catholic Education and the Institute for Educational Initiatives
Ash Wednesday - Wednesday, February 18th
Rembrandt’s painting The Return of the Prodigal Son is mostly dark, except for one space, in the foreground, which is faintly lit. Here, the prodigal son is on his knees before his father. The soles of his shoes are falling off, leaving the bottom of his feet exposed. His robe is tattered. He is out of money; out of food; out of energy for life. His head is buried in his father’s chest, exhausted.
His father’s arms fall gently over the back of his son’s shoulders, holding his son up, and also communicating to him, through touch: “You are home again.”
What better words could we think of, to begin this season of Lent?
What is going through the son’s mind, as he kneels into his father’s embrace? It was not his goal, when he first set out from his father’s house, to wind up in this lost state. He was in search of new possibilities, escape from routine, a new life. Not all that different from the first disciples who followed Jesus. But somewhere, something went wrong.
Sometimes, in the rush and complexity of our daily life, it is difficult to stay on course. Then, one day we wake up, like from a daze, and see: we’ve journeyed off the path. We’re in a rut. We’ve lost our joy.
We celebrate Lent every year, because part of being human is that we drift. We get stressed. We get lonely. We get frustrated. We get angry. We get depressed. It is all part of being human. And all of this can lead us off the road.
And so, from time to time, we need to be called back, back to our home, back to the life of joy for which our God created us.
May the grace of this season re-orient us. If we are lost, may we re-discover our way. If we are tired, may we re-discover God’s strength within us. If we have turned from God’s love, may we feel the embrace of the Prodigal Father’s arms on the back of our shoulders, as God welcomes us home again.