Lenten Stewardship ~ Forty Days

The number 40 appears throughout the bible, usually designating a time of purification and transformation.  The great flood lasted for forty days; Moses spent forty days with God on Mt. Sinai; the Hebrews spent forty years transitioning from slavery to the Promised Land; Jesus battled Satan in the desert for forty days.  There are many more examples.  If we ask ourselves, why has God given me forty days of Lent, each of us will have a different answer.  Is there a nagging regret I need to rectify?  A selfish habit I need to break?  A damaged relationship I need to mend?  A greater depth of prayerfulness to which I’m being called? What purification and transformation is needed to bring me closer to God?  Our Lord is gifting us with 40 days of communal support in this transformative process.  Let us pray for one another that we may use this gift wisely, growing spiritually stronger as individuals and as a community as we journey together toward Easter.