“Every athlete exercises discipline in every way. They do it to win a perishable crown, but we and imperishable one.” (1 Corinthians 9:25)
The Dominican Sisters of Mary, Mother of the Eucharist and Disciple of Christ – Education in Virtue® presents the 2017 Lenten Journal to help you use the liturgical season as a time of discipline and growth, or ‘conditioning’ that you might grow closer to the Person of Jesus Christ.
After praying for the gift of self-knowledge to recognize an area of your heart which needs ‘conditioning’, you will be able to open your mind and heart to the Holy Spirit and encounter the word of God using lectio divina as well as give praise to Him using the gratitude log. The journal also allows for meditation by providing beautiful images of the Stations of the Cross. We hope this journal will help you experience a renewed faith to be one step closer to win the imperishable crown.There is a saying that highlights what it really means to be a disciple of Christ. “What Christ is by nature, we are by grace.” In order to be a Christian, one must meditate on the life of Christ, spend time with Him, get to know Him. To be a Christian, quite literally means to be “another Christ.” We are baptized into Christ, are made members of his Body, are thus are extensions of his presence in the world today. God, in his goodness, desires to share his life with us through his Son, Jesus Christ.
This journal is designed as a series of meditations on the Incarnation. The Catechism gives four “reasons” why God became man in Jesus Christ. In reflecting on the life of Christ and meditating on these reasons, we can find the high calling and glorious destiny that is ours as Christians – the call to be sons and daughters of the Father in the Son and through the Holy Spirit.
Each week is dedicated to one of the four reasons. Corresponding Scripture passages, quotes from the saints, meditations, and sacred art are arranged to create a “space” for dialogue with God in prayer. As you work through this journal, ask the Holy Spirit to open your heart to receive his grace.
