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View this email in your browser A daily Lenten e-mail with lessons of hope and courage, inspired by a variety of resources to encourage us in these confusing and turbulent times from St. Luke’s Church, Lebanon. Friday - Second Week in Lent It's hard enough having a spiritual awakening, going through all the realizations and transformation; only to be confronted with fear, rejection, worry, and even ridicule from those who we should be able to depend upon. It seems worse when it involves family members who profess to be religious. Our spiritual awakening throws our own beliefs outside of their comfort zone, and this can cause family members or friends to fear that we are tangling ourselves up in something terrible. Of course this is not the case. Rather, we are finding our way to what we understand to be truth in love and understanding. We are discovering our truly infinite spiritual nature and the nature of reality. We do change during spiritual awakening: our ego is falling away; our priorities are shifting; we are earnestly seeking where we ought to be in the world. But parents, brothers, sisters, and friends fear this kind of change and often suspect there is something very wrong. They have not accepted these changes in us to be necessary ones. This is often the root of their fear. They notice changes, and they feel like they are losing the one they love. They miss the old "you." You can show them that you are still essentially the same kind and genuine person, but simply evolving. You will still be there for them. In fact, you may be able to love them even more deeply. Individuals who have discovered deep spiritual insight have frequently been rejected. In the lessons appointed for the day, we see this in the story of Joseph and his brothers. And then Jesus describes the inevitable rejection that he will experience. We can expect nothing less is we allow the power of God's Spirit to transform us. But we need not live in fear because of it. Scripture Lessons appointed for the day (Click on the lesson for the text) Genesis 37:3–4,12–28 Matthew 21:33–43 Psalm 105:16–22 “When you give yourself permission to communicate what matters to you in every situation you will have peace despite rejection or disapproval. Putting a voice to your soul helps you to let go of the negative energy of fear and regret.” ― Shannon L. Alder Rejection isn't the end . . . What can my feelings of rejection teach me? Do I believe that God could ever abandon me? Where can I grow because I have experienced rejection? Psalm 34 : The Cry Of The Poor By John Foley, SJ The Orchard Music (on behalf of OCP) BMI - Broadcast Music Inc., Hexacorp (music publishing), and 2 Music Rights Societies   Do you want to tell God how you feel today? Take a moment to find a quiet place and make a prayer to God. Allow yourself to feel what you feel. The Lord invites you to bring your worries and sorrow to him (Matthew 11:28-30). Copyright © *|CURRENT_YEAR|* *|LIST:COMPANY|*, All rights reserved. *|IFNOT:ARCHIVE_PAGE|* *|LIST:DESCRIPTION|* Our mailing address is: *|HTML:LIST_ADDRESS_HTML|* *|END:IF|* Want to change how you receive these emails? You can update your preferences or unsubscribe from this list.

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View this email in your browser A daily Lenten e-mail with lessons of hope and courage, inspired by a variety of resources to encourage us in these confusing and turbulent times from St. Luke’s Church, Lebanon. Thursday - Second Week in Lent The prophet Jeremiah is not a cheery soul. He describes the human heart, the deepest, most inner and directive part of the person, as “perverse,” such that no one can understand it. That is, no one except God. It is a bit unnerving to realize that God is able to look into the innermost part of our beings and see, totally uncensored, what’s there. But once again, this is a God who, thankfully, does not turn away from us. As painful as the injuries humans inflict upon creation and upon one another, as terrible as they must be to look upon in our heart of hearts, God continues to refuse to turn away. Sin always makes its mark upon the human heart  with the force of an iron pen and the depth of a diamond point. Nevertheless, In spite of this "downer" description, Jeremiah refuses to despair because of this one thing he is convinced: a promised day will come when God will overwrite those marks with a new covenant - a new relationship -  inscribing God’s law upon the human heart so that humans will no longer turn away from the God who never turned away from them.  Scripture Lessons appointed for the day (Click on the lesson for the text) Jeremiah 17:5–10 Luke 16:19–31 Psalm 1 The truth is that God is really not hard to believe in. The problem is that it is our hearts that are fickle. Overcoming a fickle heart . . . How often have I changed my mind about God? Do I trust myself enough to commit to God's way in my life? What do I hope for when I feel trapped or alone? Hosea - Come Back to me John Michael Talbot Tune and text by Gregory Norbert The Orchard Music (on behalf of Troubadour for the Lord Records); BMI - Broadcast Music Inc., and 6 Music Rights Societies God's love and compassion is unshakable even with the constant unfaithfulness on the part of his loved people. Copyright © *|CURRENT_YEAR|* *|LIST:COMPANY|*, All rights reserved. *|IFNOT:ARCHIVE_PAGE|* *|LIST:DESCRIPTION|* Our mailing address is: *|HTML:LIST_ADDRESS_HTML|* *|END:IF|* Want to change how you receive these emails? You can update your preferences or unsubscribe from this list.