Holy Week, the holiest week of the year, invites us all to reflect on the ultimate sacrifice made for all of us. As we journey through these days – recalling Jesus Christ’s fear, suffering, anguish and death and then the glory of Easter – we are gently reminded that every stage of life carries its own meaning and grace.
In later life, the challenges of ageing – whether physical ailments, aches and pains, loneliness, loss or the weight of memories – can trouble us and lead us to doubt, anxiety and sadness. Yet Holy Week speaks directly into these experiences. It reminds us that suffering is not without purpose, that quiet endurance has dignity, and that even in moments of loss, there is the promise of new life.
We have compiled some prayers for Holy Week below, prayers to help us reflect through this week.
Through reflection and prayer, may this Holy Week become a time of peace, connection, and renewed hope.
Growing Old Grace-fully, Holy Week 2026
A Holy Week prayer for older people
God our Father,
As we walk through Holy Week, we remember Jesus on the road to Calvary— weighed down, yet faithful, wounded, yet still moving forward.
So too in our own lives, as the years gather and our strength changes, we carry burdens we did not once know— aches in body, losses in heart, and the quiet letting go of what was.
Teach us, like Christ, to walk this path with courage and trust, to accept each step with grace, and to know we are never alone.
And as Easter dawned with light and new life, remind us that growing older is not only loss, but also transformation— a journey toward deeper peace, renewed hope, and the promise of resurrection within us.
Amen.
Growing Old Grace-fully
Prayer for Holy Week
Lord Jesus,
This Holy Week we follow you on your sorrowful and glorious journey, your journey to the Cross and Resurrection.
Today we ask that we may walk with you, give us grace to see the deep love you show us.
As you were welcomed with joy and acclaim to the Holy City, your betrayal by the crowds soon overwhelmed their cries of Hosanna.
On the Cross, you made yourself servant taking the sins of the world upon yourself.
May our lives reflect your desire to serve God our Father first; that we may serve you in our brothers and sisters.
When we face suffering and disappointment, may we know your love.
When we are feeling lost, may we know that you are with us.
When we are worried, may your Cross be a sign of hope and strength.
May this Holy Week be for us a time of renewal in faith and love.
Jesus my Lord, let me strengthen my courage by taking on the courage of all those people who have been “centurions” for me.
Many have faced disasters and hard times with great constancy. The upper hand of evil never turned them against you. They kept going.
Let me be like them, Lord. No matter what the cross, let me never stop declaring you to be “truly the Son of God, the source of my hope, the reason why I will never quit on life.
The special Stations of the Cross for carers is now available to watch online our our YouTube Channel.
These special Stations of the Cross have been written by Fr Eamonn Hegarty and Michelle Anderson specifically with carers in mind. Fr Eamonn is Parish Priest of St. Mary of the Angels, Batley and St. Patrick’s, Birstall and Michelle is Co-ordinator of the Growing Old Grace-fully Carers Project. Through the Stations of the Cross, we discover that Jesus walks this road with us. These Stations invite carers to see their own lives reflected in Christ’s journey – not as something to be explained away, spiritualised too quickly, or endured in silence, but as a place where God is already present and at work.
You can watch the Stations of the Cross for carers by clicking the button below.
Growing Old Grace-fully is hosting an online Stations of the Cross on Tuesday 24th March 7pm – 8pm. These special Stations of the Cross have been written by Fr Eamonn Hegarty and Michelle Anderson specifically with carers in mind. Fr Eamonn is Parish Priest of St. Mary of the Angels, Batley and St. Patrick’s, Birstall and Michelle is Co-ordinator of the Growing Old Grace-fully Carers Project.
The invitation to carers through the Stations
Through the Stations of the Cross, we discover that Jesus walks this road with us. These Stations invite carers to see their own lives reflected in Christ’s journey – not as something to be explained away, spiritualised too quickly, or endured in silence, but as a place where God is already present and at work. While the event is part of the Carers Project it is open to all.
Join us on Tuesday 24th March as we approach Holy Week and prepare for the Holy Season of Easter.
Forty days to return to the Lord with all our heart. It is a season marked by prayer, fasting, and almsgiving, but also by honesty — honesty about our frailty, our need for mercy, and our hope in the promise of resurrection. In later life, this invitation carries a particular depth. As the years gather behind us and the horizon ahead feels nearer, Lent can become not only a time of repentance, but a season of profound wisdom, surrender, and trust.
Ageing brings its own kind of desert experience. There may be physical weakness, loss of independence, bereavement, or the quiet ache of loneliness. We may carry regrets alongside cherished memories. Yet the desert is not empty — it is the place where God speaks tenderly to the heart. In later life, prayer often becomes simpler and deeper: fewer words, more silence; fewer plans, more presence. Lent reminds us that growing older is not a diminishment of vocation, but a refining of it. We are called to witness through patience, to intercede through faithful prayer, and to hope steadfastly in Christ’s victory over suffering and death.
At the same time, we live in a world marked by uncertainty and turmoil. War, displacement, economic hardship, environmental crisis, and social division weigh heavily upon our spirits. Many older people look upon today’s world with concern for children and grandchildren, wondering what future awaits them. Lent does not ignore these realities. Instead, it draws them into the heart of Christ, who carries the suffering of the world upon the Cross. Our prayers in this season unite our personal vulnerabilities with the wounds of humanity. In doing so, they become powerful acts of love and solidarity.
These Lenten prayers are offered especially for those in the later seasons of life. They acknowledge the challenges of ageing while affirming the enduring dignity and spiritual fruitfulness of every year lived in Christ. They hold before God the anxieties of our time and ask for peace, justice, and renewal. Above all, they trust that even as our outer selves grow frail, our inner selves are being renewed day by day.
May this holy season be for you a time of gentle grace — a journey through the desert that leads not to desolation, but to Easter joy.
Growing Old Grace-fully
The Grace of Forty Days
The grace of forty days Time to make the desert journey and renew our way to life.
Time for testing and for changing. Time to trust the word of God.
Time to recognise holy presence and share Cyrene’s work.
Time for forgiveness and for healing and to repent our broken lives.
Time to build God’s dwelling with us and proclaim full life for all.
Time to watch and wait with Jesus and to prepare the upper room.
Time to turn our lives again to God and to transform our world with love.
Amen
Pat Pierce/CAFOD
Forgive Us
For closing ourselves to the driving of your Holy Spirit; for choosing to live in places of comfort rather than being led into the wilderness; for letting fear of the person who is different rule our lives, rather than letting your love for all people fill our hearts; for our separation from one another in the Body of Christ; for not trusting that you hold the future in your hands.
Amen
Elizabeth Welch
In the Thicket
God’s Truth as God knows it as it can be held in the human tongue as it can survive translation from one tongue to another as it can survive interpretation by scholars as it can survive the teachers of teachers as it can survive the experience and understanding, and Language of every human as it is -visible to those who see – still in the made World beautiful as it partly may be restored by good sense, loving kindness and Good will, by inspiration by beautiful work
Amen
Wendell Berry
A prayer for times of anxiety
Dear Lord,
In moments of anxiety grant me peace. Calm my restless heart and fill my mind with your reassuring presence. In You may I find refuge and comfort in Jesus name.
The last time I wrote a Lent Reflection for Growing Old Grace-fully we were in the throes of the Covid global pandemic. Now we see war and struggles around the world in Ukraine, Gaza, the West Bank and Israel, the Sudan, Nigeria, and so many countries globally. Each is unique in its context but the suffering, injury and loss of life have universal similarities in the way people are hurting, deeply worried, struggling for meaning and wondering how to continue. Climate change, conflict, and poverty are combining to drive people from their homes. Nationalism and racism seem to be increasing. Love and compassion are evident, but hard line rhetoric is threatening community dialogue and discouraging diverse communities from working out daily life issues together.
It need not be like this…
Perhaps this Lenten Season is a time to reflect on how we each travel with Jesus on his Way to Jerusalem to Calvary, and the hope of His Resurrection. Reflecting too closely on how governments and political leaders are responding may be too painful at times. Instant news means we know almost immediately what is happening. We now have to factor in possible fake news and the toxic culture that exists in parts of the Internet. BUT, as adults, we also need to discern, pray and act in a way that leads to God and Resurrection.
As Micah wrote “And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.” (6:8) ( New International Version )
Desert Experience
Jesus went into the desert at the start of his ministry. It was a time of isolation, hardship and temptation. A time to reflect and prepare for ministry. Perhaps our Lent journey leads us into a desert: a place alone to concentrate on God and abstain from comfort and distraction.
The Desert Mothers and Fathers lived during the 3rd to the 5th centuries in Egypt and the Middle East. They lived “a white martyrdom” where they left their communities, led a solitary ascetic life of poverty and self denial, whereas “a red martyrdom” meant losing their lives for God. Monasticism developed from these “white martyrs” as hermits tended to attract disciples and subsequently communities.
I go to North Wales to a Retreat Centre most years where a number of us learn about the local Celtic Saints. Amongst these, Saints Beuno, Seiriol, Winifred and Melangell lived a “white martyrdom” as hermits: a radical life of poverty, solitude and prayer, until followers sought them out and baptismal communities grew around them. There are many stories of saints continuing to seek solitude and escape at times from community life. It is believed that after finding St Seiriol’s Island (Puffin Island) and Anglesey too crowded, St Seiriol would set off at low tide to Penmaenmawr on the North Wales coastline opposite, up towards the area of Noddfa, the Retreat Centre where I stay! I am constantly aware of “Holy ground” when I am there. On Lindisfarne, St Cuthbert would do the same, spending time alone on a tiny island off the Northumbrian Coast and finally one of the Farne Islands.
How do we manage or even value time alone?
Some of the Celtic Saints talked about the desert experience of being at the top of a mountain, or by the sea or on the sea: remote places where they could live and pray or wander.
Might we think about those places in that way too?
Some saints like the 5th century Irish St Brendan was a sea explorer searching for the Promised Land. St Samson, another 5th century Saint, sailed between Ireland, Wales, Cornwall and Brittany, the route of other Celtic Saints. He founded monasteries but also for him the sailing on the desert Sea was a pilgrimage of self discovery, prayer and Redemption in itself. For some Celtic Seafarers the journey was more important than the destination… until the Final Destination with God. Seeking God….
Prayer
Why have I spent time this year on the Celtic Saints for Lent? Because their whole life tried to be a prayer. There were prayers for times of day, for meals, for different tasks, for protection, for everything. For the Celts as for many others, the veil between life and death was thin. Lent would be a time to think about Jesus’ life and death. Perhaps one way to respond to the challenges of our world – and to remind ourselves not to despair and that there is ‘nothing new under the sun’ and ALWAYS HOPE IN GOD, is to study and pray with some of the Celtic Saints and reflect on our own life and death and rising with the Resurrected Lord at Easter.
Pilgrimage and Healing
St Winifred (Gwenfrewi in Welsh) was a 7th century Celtic Saint. Her (Winifred’s) Well for Baptism and Healing is at Holywell in North Wales and later became a great centre of pilgrimage in the Middle Ages. She was a niece of St Beuno. She was raped by a Welsh Prince, survived despite rumours of her death, protected and nursed by St Beuno and subsequently she withdrew to Gwytherin south of Conwy. She lived as a hermit and a community grew around her. She became an Abbess. She was known as a wounded healer. An ancient church at Gwytherin, with a Bronze Age burial mound next to it and surrounded by ancient yew trees thousands of years old, became an early pilgrimage site in the 7th-8th century. Her body was supposed to have been transferred in the 12th Century to Shrewsbury Abbey but many believe she is still buried at Gwytherin. Pilgrims continue to visit the peaceful old church for prayer. During Lent as a saint, a survivor of violence, a wounded healer, Winifred might be someone to pray with for solace and healing.
Prayer and Nature
Melangell is the site of the Cell of St Melanga. She was a 7th century Irish Princess escaping an arranged marriage. She landed in Wales and walked to a valley in Powys where she protected a hare from a Prince out hunting. She is known as the patron saint of hares. She was given land in the valley where she lived as a hermit, later as Abbess of a nunnery that developed there at Pennant Melangell. It remains a pilgrimage site where people come to the ancient yew trees thousands of years old and the old church that was built in the 12th century. Perhaps during Lent we too can imagine ourselves in the beautiful deep valley seeking solace and strength in the Church, praying with St Melanga and sitting among the yew trees, as so many have done before.
Focus
So, Lent may be about being abstemious, alone or with companions, where we focus on God, without too much distraction on a pilgrimage journey towards Easter. We might be seeking solace, healing from violence or a time to appreciate the beauty and strength of nature. We might be at a crossroads in our lives. As older people we might feel tired and overwhelmed by world events. The Celtic Saints (and there are many others of course) may be guides during this time.
Good works
Lent may also be about good works: working with a good cause, or giving money to charity. There are many opportunities for this. If we are housebound or short of money, prayer is, as always, invaluable. Prayer for others is always needed.
I travelled in a taxi recently. I learned on the journey the driver came from Sudan. He is now an engineer living in a North of England city with his wife and family. So why does he also drive a taxi? Because he sends the taxi money back to the senior class of a school in Sudan to buy extras for the pupils and their families, to persuade the pupils to stay at school for another year. He told me extra education also increases the likelihood of boys treating girls better in the future….
Vigils
Lent may be about keeping Vigil. On Maundy Thursday some of us may keep Vigil with Christ at Gethsemane. For me the image of Mary the mother of Jesus keeping Vigil with the other women and St John at the foot of the cross at Calvary is especially powerful. They risked death, attack and must have experienced horror and sadness at the torture and death of their beloved Jesus. Vigils can focus on issues of today: for example: in big cities or small towns about the situation in Gaza, the West Bank and Israel; the silent monthly Vigils outside the Home Office about Asylum Seekers; and the Women in Black who regularly silently stand vigil in Leeds and elsewhere to remember the children and adults who are suffering and have died in the Middle East as a result of war. Silent, peaceful Vigil can be a Lenten Practice, a Witness, where we pray for peace and justice, for asylum seekers and for victims of war, sometimes at the risk of hostility from others. If we cannot be physically present we can pray for a variety of issues. My housebound 96 year old mother put a light in her window on Holocaust Memorial Day this year. The response was an anti-semitic remark from a neighbour. It can take courage to do what we believe in. It can also connect us to other human beings and give us a sense of community and solidarity.
Celtic spirituality in Lent
This is multi faceted and encompasses a creative dynamic of stillness and journey. In Lent do we make a spiritual journey or consolidate our search in one place? Do we spend time alone like a hermit or do we seek community? Do we stay with the Known or do we venture into the Unknown? These are not either/ or alternatives, they can be both / and alternatives. As Older People who are housebound we might not believe we have a choice, but spiritually, in our prayer life we can wander and seek.
The Seeking of God in the desert, the mountain top, valley, among trees or on the sea.
Perhaps this Lent we can concentrate on the spiritual journey, the Seeking of God. Abraham set out for the Promised Land through the desert without knowing where he was going. Or we can stand on the hill top of Mount Tabor the place of Transfiguration, or on the Mount of Olives, a place of confronting crucifixion, or on a hill in Galilee where we hear the Beatitudes. Or we might seek God by or on the sea, perhaps on the Sea of Galilee with its calm and its storms. We can place ourselves anywhere.
The following (apparently anonymous) prayer is said at Leeds A Call to Action Meetings. It seems appropriate as a conclusion to this Celtic Spiritual Reflection.
Seeking is Seeing
Seeking God is as good as seeing God.
Who, but a saint,
Would know so clearly
That the journey is the reality.
The steps are sight.
The effort is reward.
The seeing is the searching.
The dream is the reality?
Seeking God is seeing God.
Have a fruitful Lenten time of seeking and seeing!
Pippa Bonner, February 2026
Thanks to North Wales, Lindisfarne and the Celtic Saints; Gratitude to Julie Hopkins who has taught me a lot about Celtic spirituality whilst sharing the hospitality of the Sisters at Noddfa Retreat Centre in Penmaenmawr. Many thanks to the Sisters and Staff too.
This is Pope Francis’ Jubilee Year of Hope. We are encouraged to be Pilgrims of Hope amidst the traumatic global events of war, climate change, political swings and poverty and injustice that currently confront us.
Currently we are all concerned about the war in Ukraine, in the Middle East and elsewhere. We do not know the eventual outcome, but I believe we must have hope and pray.
Hope, we know, is more than optimism and being positive, important as those states of mind are, and easier for some than others. Hope comes from deep faith that ultimately “All will be well”, as Julian of Norwich believed and shared from her mystical experiences.
Recently I was with a 90 year old woman who was deeply asleep. She awoke and immediately said with a smile, “All will be well.” She is bed bound and, to the onlooker, now apparently leads a very restricted, limited life. What an amazing proclamation to have made when she awoke! I experienced this as an example of mature, graced hope and a great reminder to me and others. We must never underestimate older people..!
Easter is the pinnacle of hope for Christians, who believe that Jesus was resurrected from death following his crucifixion.
We are redeemed and part of God’s eternal plan. After the terrible pain and anguish of Holy Week, Christ, has risen from the dead and is full of transformed life. He appears a number of times to his followers before Pentecost fifty days later when they receive the Holy Spirit and are given the gifts and strength to carry on Jesus’ work of spreading the Word and transforming peoples’ lives. We are encouraged in 2025 to carry on His work, using our Spirit-given gifts and experience to live and share the Word, with each other, now and every day. This can be in small, quiet ways as well as more publicly. We can pray for each other.
When I was asked to write a Reflection for Easter and Pentecost time it was January. This time frame is not unusual. I immediately agreed to write it. Usually I write something quite quickly. But not this time. Why?
I have realised now the delay was to do with me and life events. I was going through a challenging time. I was recovering from planned surgery that I had waited for a long time and also coping with a recent house move. I knew these were the reasons for my writing something: but also why I had to sit with the changes in my life and ‘the now’ of January before thinking ahead to the opening up and hope of the Easter Message.
This was the reason for my delay…the liturgical journey after Jesus’ birth in Christmastide is to travel with him through his daily life of teachings, signs and miracles, and then Lent, through his wilderness experience, his experience of rejection, suffering and crucifixion towards Resurrection. Although I make this liturgical journey every year, this time it has been different.
I have had to learn to walk again. I have felt pain and had the temporary experience of not driving, and needing to rely more on others’ help and kindness. I have had to let go of the family home with three sets of stairs and the stress of selling it These are experiences shared by many older people. I have had the support of family and friends and my situation is temporary, but it has not been easy. However, I also constantly feel grateful I do not live in the rubble of Gaza or Mariupol, or as a refugee on a long journey from war, drought or persecution.
I realise that the Pope’s Jubilee Year of Hope is here at the right time for me – and I suggest for all of us – as it emphasises the importance of hope and kindness. Pope Francis talked on a Radio 4 Today Programme, Thought for the Day, at the beginning of the Jubilee Year of Hope in December 2024. Several times he emphasised the importance of hope with kindness. He said “I hope that during this Jubilee we can practise kindness as a form of love to connect with others.” I think in our daily lives, trying to live as Pilgrims of Hope kindness can be part of the Jubilee “glue” in our family, parish and community that particularly older people can offer. It can be contagious and can “stick”!
Life is full of hope and challenge, ups and downs. Over the years my morning prayer has morphed into offering everything that happens during daily life that is good and bad, the hopeless and hopeful:
“Today I offer You the good and the bad, the happy and the sad, the boring and the mad”.
It encompasses everything. It seems to me that God makes use of our negative experiences and challenges as well as the positives and blessings we are given.
There is hope…May we all at Eastertide work together with hope and kindness and offer our Gifts to each other at Pentecost as we try to be Pilgrims of Hope and Kindness.
Photo courtesy of St. Mel’s Cathedral, Longford (Facebook page)
These beautiful modern Stations of the Cross were sculpted by Ken Thompson for St. Mel’s Cathedral in Longford, County Longford in Ireland, to replace the wooden ones burned in a fire at Christmas 2009.
The Cathedral was badly damaged but the beautiful new sculptures are part of the resurrected Cathedral. (It is the local home Cathedral of Fr. Jim Leavy known to many of us in the Leeds Diocese).
Why show two Stations of the Cross at Easter tide?
13th Station
You may notice that in the 13th Station that the inscription is “Indeed this Man was the Son of God”. (Mk. 15:39.)
And if you look at the foot of the Cross, the Devil, depicted from one old tradition as a mouse, is rushing headlong into the trap!
Christ has overcome evil.
14th Station
In the 14th Station Jesus lies on what is portrayed as an altar, as the Eucharist.
Looking out of the door the Cross is growing green shoots: Life…The inscription: “Why seek you the living among the dead?” was the question the angel put to the women rushing to the Tomb.
The angel proclaims “Gloria”!
The word NIKA above the entrance to the Tomb means VICTORY and the Tomb is no longer dark but full of light.
When Fr. Jim Leavy showed me a book of these amazing sculptures they made an impression on me. The Lenten Practice of making the Stations of the Cross transitions to the Resurrection. Instead of having a 15th Station of the Resurrection, which increasingly occurs in modern Stations, we are visually made aware of Christ’s Resurrection in signs and scripture. Christ rises from the dead, the Cross is transformed to a source of life and we are given the Eucharist.
As an older person who has lived through many Lents and Easters, like many of us, I am aware of the cyclical nature of life and death, death and life. There are many struggles, pain and disappointments but also hope, happiness and life.
After the dark comes the dawn…After Lent comes Easter…
Lent is the time when we engage in a period of reflection, repentance, and spiritual renewal in preparation for Easter.
Central to this observance is prayer, which serve as a means of deepening one’s connection with God, seeking forgiveness for shortcomings, and strengthening faith.
Through prayer, we seek to emulate Christ’s forty days of fasting and prayer in the desert, drawing closer to God and embracing a spirit of self-discipline and humility. Lenten prayers are an integral part of the Catholic journey during this sacred season, guiding us toward spiritual growth, transformation, and a deeper understanding of God’s love and mercy.
In this particular Lent, we share the anguish of Jesus in the desert as we view the state of the current world today, its conflicts, anger and hatred, all the antithesis of the message of Christ. We unite our challenges, our ailments and our sufferings with the torment of Jesus over the state of the Earth to help us prepare for Holy Week, the chance of forgiveness, redemption and renewal for us and humanity.
Here are three prayers for Lent. See also our Lent resources page for further reflection and prayers.
The desert waits (an invitation to Lent)
The desert waits, ready for those who come, who come obedient to the Spirit’s leading; or who are driven, because they will not come the other way.
The desert always waits, ready to let us know who we are- the place of self-discovery.
And whilst we fear and rightly, the loneliness and emptiness and harshness, we forget the angels, whom we cannot see because of our blindness, but who come when God decides. that we need their help; when we are ready for what they can give us
Amen.
Ruth Burgess from ‘Eggs and Ashes’ (1990)
The Beatitudes (inspired by Matthew 5:3-12)
Blessed are the poor… not the penniless but those whose heart is free.
Blessed are those who mourn… not those who whimper but those who raise their voices.
Blessed are the meek… not the soft but those who are patient and tolerant.
Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for justice… not those who whine but those who struggle.
Blessed are the merciful… not those who forget but those who forgive.
Blessed are the pure in heart…. not those who act like angels but those whose life is transparent.
Blessed are the peacemakers not those who shun conflict but those who face it squarely.
Blessed are those who are persecuted for justice… Not because they suffer But because they love.
Amen.
P. Jacob in ‘Bread for Tomorrow’.
Cafod Lent Prayer 2024
Loving God, when our boat is rocked on the sea of life, by poverty, illness or disaster, you quiet the waves, calm the storm, and lead us safely to shore.
When we work hard, for our daily bread, but at the end of the day go hungry, you walk alongside us, calling, “cast out your nets”, knowing there is enough for all.
When we are lost, and uncertain of how to make a change in our world, your words ring out: “Come, follow me”, guiding us to new life with you.
Lead us then, Lord, to play our part in calming the storm and sharing your gifts with each other, so that all people throughout the world may look to the future with hope.
In his message for Lent 2024, Pope Francis invites the faithful to “pause” for prayer and to assist our brothers and sisters in need, in order to change our own lives and the lives of our communities.
CAFOD have a range of Lent resources including prayers, reflections and an interactive calendar. Sign up to the calendar and receive daily Lent emails of prayer, reflection and practical actions, offering an opportunity to pause, reflect and pray as we prepare for Easter.
Independent Catholic News have published a series of resources for Lent 2024, from books, to apps, online series, email reflections and activities to choose from – listed in alphabetical order.
In 2020 we went into Lockdown during Lent. Who would have thought that we are approaching another Lent starting on 17th February in 2021 and we are in Lockdown 3? This time, speaking for myself – and I suspect others too – there is weariness and anxiety and a greater understanding that this “new normal” is going to take longer than we thought last Lent.
However, we now have vaccines which are being given as quickly as systems allow. We each also know from experience what has supported us this far. Perhaps our faith in God? Our faith in other people? Family and friends? TV? The Internet? Perhaps we are trying to concentrate more on the present, rather than thinking about the past and worrying or wishing for the future. And particularly if we live alone we may have developed routines, diversions and self knowledge and self- care to know what has, and has not, got us through this far?
For most of us it is a journey of ups and downs, and that is a natural response to stressful events, loss and anxiety. We are all much clearer about what we have “lossed”: the death of family and friends, health, jobs and money, stability, being in close contact with others, going to our churches to meet our church community face to face, spontaneously planning outings, holidays, meals, theatre trips or watching ordinary life out of the window.
Image origin unknown
So, what about Lent, where we spend time thinking about Jesus and “journeying” with Him towards Jerusalem to his Death and Resurrection?
Can we cope with it this year? Or do we think our observation of it matters more than ever? We are encouraged to believe in Jesus, who, as God, is suffering with us, in the midst of us rather than a distant God. Though it may not feel like it.
Sometimes I am thinking how I am perhaps in a kind of desert with Jesus, or in a storm or sinking in the sea, or perhaps standing on a mountain and sometimes I stand on solid ground with a sense of purpose. It may vary.
We are all in a strange space between life as we knew it before March 2020 and life after a global pandemic. What are we thinking about how to spend Lent? Some of us may feel we are suffering enough already, or too tired or too “prayed out” or feel abandoned, so considering extra in Lent may be too difficult to consider.
I have been looking at two very different books which I plan to use:
The Book of Psalms (translated by Jesuit scriptural theologian Nicholas King) ,
” The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse” by author and illustrator Charlie Mackesy
I have found a journey of crisis, uncertainty, fear, reflection, support, joy, calm and hope in both these books. In some ways they are complementary, despite the several thousand years and different cultures that separate them.
Charlie Mackesy’s book has a message that is not overtly religious but I believe it is profound, spiritual and relational. It is a book is for all age groups and it is a journey about love, friendship, kindness, wisdom and hope, and I find it very inspiring.
The Psalms express fear, anger, distress, fatigue, remorse, forgiveness, hope, thanksgiving and praise. Nicholas King helpfully says that “when the psalmist talks of “my enemies”, for example, we are no longer in touch with the original reference, and sometimes it is easier to pray such verses as a reference to those inner thoughts that upset us or alienate us.” I found this explanation useful, enriching and not physically war-based. I have now been reading the concept of enemies and struggles in the context of the global pandemic and the thoughts and feelings I have about it. I offer extracts from some of the Psalms.
Extracts from Psalm 42:"Just as the deer longs for springs of water,
so my soul longs for you....
Why are you so very sad, my soul?
Why are you troubling me?....
Deep calls upon deep, at the sound of your waterfalls,
all your billows and your waves have gone over me....
Why are you so very sad, my soul?
And why are you troubling me?
Hope in God, for I shall sing God's praises.
the one who saves me, my God."
Psalm 42 talks about enemy oppression and being asked by enemies where is our God? I am thinking that the enemy in this Psalm might include the fear, doubt and loss that Covid 19 has on our lives. Ultimately out of longing and sadness comes eternal safety and hope.
From Psalm 69:
" Save me, O God, for the waters have reached my soul.
I am stuck fast in deep mud, and there is nowhere to stand;
I have gone into the depths of the sea, and a storm has swamped me;
I am exhausted from crying out; my throat is sore;
my eyes are worn out from [looking] expectantly for God....”
These words remind me of media interviews from exhausted doctors and other health care workers. And I sometimes feel swamped and exhausted by all the news and statistics about Covid 19.
Then in Psalm 23 God is a loving shepherd:
“For even though I should walk
in the midst of the shadow of death,
I shall not fear evil,
for you are with me;
your stick and your rod,
these have comforted me.”
N. King suggests the the stick may be for support and the rod to ward off “attackers”, or in my view those intrusive negative thoughts.
In Psalm 46 “ a psalm about hidden things” is how King translates the title:
“God is our refuge and strength,
a help in the troubles that find us out.
Therefore we shall not fear
when the earth is stirred
and the mountains are shifted
in the heart of the seas”....
“The Lord of hosts is with us,
the God of Jacob is our helper.”
Then we are given wings to fly away and rest in Psalm 55, and shelter in Psalm 63.
From Psalm 55“My heart was disturbed inside me,
and the fear of death fell upon me.
Fear and trembling came upon me,
and darkness covered me.
And I said, “Who will give me
wings like a dove,
that I may fly away and be at rest?
Look, I have travelled far in my flight
and made my lodging in the desert.”
From Psalm 63:“I shall dwell in your tent for ever. I shall be sheltered
under the shelter of your wings.”
It seems to me that this Lent the Psalms may help us to find words for our fear, sadness and hidden thoughts in a pandemic and also the hope and rest that many of us believe will come through God. Some of us may place ourselves in the imagery of the desert and the storms but also the protection of the tent or under the shelter of wings.
And what of the words and illustrations in Charlie Mackesy’s book “The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse”? These characters meet and learn about themselves through each other and philosophise profoundly on behalf of us all as they journey together: (There are no page numbers.)
“Everyone is a bit scared said the horse, but we are less scared together. Tears fall for a reason and they are your strength not weakness.”
This might be helpful for reflection on our own fear and expression of emotion, and as we read of the tears and exhaustion in Psalms, including Psalm 69.
“Isn’t it odd. We can only see our outsides, but nearly everything happens on the inside.” (said by the Boy.)
The Psalms give vent to internal emotions, that are at times expressed openly and at other times are on the inside, or under the cover of darkness, or may be the “enemies” mentioned so often in these Psalms. As Nicholas King said previously the warring enemies of the Psalms may be the conflicting turbulent thoughts we have at times. For healthy mental wellbeing we are often encouraged to reflect on our inner thoughts and try to work through them. We may need to express them in some way. Sometimes we need to ask for support.
“ Asking for help isn’t giving up”, said the Horse. “It’s refusing to give up.”
And sometimes we need to focus on our blessings and look at what we value:
“When the big things feel out of control…focus on what you love right under your nose.” “This storm will pass,” said the Horse.
And if we feel tired with contemplating the journey through Lent we each discern what we will do, remembering that Resurrection and hope follow Lent and the Crucifixion. The Fox doesn’t say much but joins the journey, helps the others and not talking is accepted too… Perhaps this year we allow ourselves some leeway and “time out” when we need it.:
“ Being kind to yourself is one of the greatest kindnesses” said the Mole.”.
And if we need reminding how far we have travelled the Covid 19 journey as we enter Lent:
“ We have such a long way to go”, sighed the Boy. “Yes, but look how far we’ve come” said the Horse.”
