Lenten Reflections
TUESDAY OF THE FIFTH WEEK OF LENT, MARCH 28, 2023
By Dr. Tauna Sisco, Professor of Sociology
After a long day, really a long week, I sat at home grumbling, miserable, and complaining about everything. I’ll be honest if the wall had looked at me the wrong way, I would have snapped back at it.
My husband, gently, came up to me and said this simple phrase “I think you need to pray more.”
He is right.
Here we are in the fifth week of Lent. The fifth week of sacrificing, the fifth week of fasting, and the fifth week waiting for Jesus. And we are tired of waiting, impatient for Him, and ready to complain. To put it bluntly, our patience wells have run dry.
In Numbers (21:4-9) we learn the children of Israel, tired of their journey, “complained against God and Moses” but only with prayer were saved from the Lord’s punishment. The important reminder that prayer is the path to comfort comes to us again in the Psalm 102 (2-3):
O Lord, hear my prayer, and let my cry come to you. Hide not your face from me in the day of my distress. Incline your ear to me; in the day when I call, answer me speedily.
As Easter Sunday nears, let’s disrupt our impatience with more prayer. Today I pray to Saint Monica, the Patron Saint of patience and perseverance:
When I’m tired, I find genuine rest in You, Lord of Heaven. When I am troubled, I find relief in You. I seek Your guidance. I’m waiting for your instructions. Teach me to be calm and patient, even when things do not go as planned. Help me to remember Your promise of direction and blessing at times of adversity and failure. Please calm my heart and keep me trusting.
Amen.