Episcopal Relief & Development’s 2025 LENTEN Meditation Journey . . . A COMMONPLACE Lent

Monastic spirituality says we are to honor one another. We are to listen to one another. —Sr. Joan Chittister, The Rule of Benedict

When thinking about writing a series of devotions for Lent, my first thought was of the wilderness. After all, Lent is wilderness season: a season of wandering, a season marked by simplicity and fasting, of burying the alleluias, a season where it is tempting to ask, “Are we there yet?” as we make our way toward the promised land of Easter. But Lent isn’t a season we travel alone. Like the Hebrew people wandering the desert for forty years as a community, we spend forty days wandering through Lent with our communities of faith, our households and sometimes even friends across the globe.

This is why I decided to begin each day’s meditation with wisdom and inspiration from our monastic siblings. The Desert Mothers and Fathers, Saint Benedict, Saint Augustine, Saint Francis, Saint Hildegard, Sr. Joan Chittister and Thomas Merton were (and are) just ordinary humans traveling an ordinary human journey, together and alone. Their writings and biographies reflect the challenges of living a common life committed to Christ, anchored by spiritual practices such as stillness, silence, fasting, self-reflection, mutual listening and service. Practices are often thwarted or tested by the conflicts and pressures of living in community.

We all live in community. True, most of us don’t live in monasteries or desert communes, but we live in households and families; we are a part of churches, schools and workplaces. Following Jesus together and in the midst of each other is essential to becoming a beloved community, and it is often frustrating, which is why the words and teachings of the monastics are helpful. They remind us that we are not alone in our experiences; they give us words and tools to bring us together in a shared wholeness as we seek to spread the hope and healing of an Easter life.

For REFLECTION:

 Whose words or example encourages you as you strive to love as Jesus loves us?

Click here to read the introduction to the 2025 Lenten Meditation “A Commonplace Lent.”

The Lenten Meditations prepared by Episcopal Relief & Development invite readers to deepen their spiritual practice during the season of Lent, the time of preparation leading to Easter. Our 2025 meditations explore the idea of “A Commonplace Lent.” This concept reflects Episcopal Relief & Development’s tagline: “Working Together for Lasting Change.” We share in common the work of advancing lasting change in communities impacted by injustice, poverty, disaster and climate change.

We also share in common spiritual practices that strengthen our faith—prayer, worship, love, grace, service and so much more. The author explores another meaning of common in the  meditations: finding God in the common and ordinary as well as in the extraordinary mountain-top moments. Each day begins with wisdom from desert mothers and fathers, monastics and other spiritual leaders who offer insight into our common path of faithful discipleship and service. Each meditation concludes with a question for deeper reflection.

Episcopal Relief & Development is the compassionate response of The Episcopal Church to human suffering in the world. Hearing God’s call to seek and serve Christ in all persons and to respect the dignity of every human being, Episcopal Relief & Development serves to bring together the generosity of Episcopalians and others with the needs of the world.

This Lenten Meditation Journey is provided courtesy of Episcopal Relief & Development and was authored by Jerusalem Jackson Greer, co-executive director and agrarian minister for the Procter Center, an Episcopal farm, camp and retreat center in the Episcopal Diocese of Southern Ohio. As former manager of evangelism and discipleship for The Episcopal Church under Presiding Bishop Michael Curry, she co-founded the Good News Garden movement and oversaw Way of Love and Evangelism initiatives for the wider church.