How to prepare for the most important journey of your life
Dear Friends,
If you’ve spent time on social media, you’ve probably seen ads promising to change your life in just 30 days. Well, I have a similar invitation—but this one isn’t about quick fixes. It’s about something deeper, something that could truly shape your heart and soul.
Next week, we begin Lent on Ash Wednesday.
Lent is more than just giving up chocolate or sticking to fish fry Fridays. It’s a 40-ish-day journey leading us to Easter—a sacred time to reflect, grow, and walk more closely with God. For me, it’s the most meaningful season of the year, an invitation to step into Christ’s journey to the cross and consider what it means for our lives and our world.
Before Lent sneaks up on us, let’s pause and set an intention for this season. My goal each year remains the same: to walk more closely with God. But the way I get there is always different. What about you? Where do you long to grow in your spiritual life? And what small steps could you take over these next 40 days to move in that direction?
This year, I’m drawing inspiration from Pope Francis' message for Lent 2025: “Let us journey together in hope.” In a time when his health is declining, and the world feels increasingly uncertain, his words offer us a meaningful path for reflection and renewal.
Starting next Wednesday, I’ll be sending out a weekly Lenten newsletter exploring Pope Francis’ call to hope—what it means for our faith, our relationship with God, and our journey with one another.
I’d love for you to join me on this path. Let’s walk it together.
With hope,
Suzanne
P.S. Here’s a few items you might want to include in your Lenten knapsack…
What to give up for Lent? It is traditional to give up something during Lent as an act of penitence. I’ve had mixed results, but I continue because one year I gave up alcohol for Lent, and I’ve not had a drink in seven years. It’s been life-changing for me.
Lent is a great time to add a new daily spiritual habit because there’s a finite timeline. What can you commit to trying? How about 10 minutes of meditating on a few verses from the Psalms with your first cup of coffee? Or 20 minutes of talking to God when you’re out on a daily walk? Identify one spiritual practice you’ve been meaning to try, and do it now.
I love being inspired by other writers, and Lent is a great time to pick up a spiritual classic you’ve been meaning to read or find new inspiration in a Lenten devotional. Our parish book club is reading Charles de Foucauld (Modern Spiritual Masters): Writings. Here’s a link to a broad assortment of books for Lent, and a shameless plug for Journey, a Lenten devotional I published last year from my faith columns in the Summit Daily News.
Bring a friend. Spritual journeys are very personal. However, asking a friend or neighbor to join you in reading a Lenten book or meet weekly for coffee and a chat about what you’re learning during Lent can make the journey more memorable.