Holy Week reflections with Saint Mother Theodore

We hope your time walking through Lent with Saint Mother Theodore Guerin has been beneficial. The week’s reflections below conclude this Lenten journey. May your Holy Week be blessed!

Palm Sunday, April 9

“The disciples went as Jesus had ordered them.” – Matthew 21:6

“Let us adore the designs of this good Master and be resigned to His Holy Will.” – Saint Mother Theodore Guerin

Jesus seemed to be asking the disciples to do something absurd. They were to go take a donkey from a specified place, and, if someone confronted them, say simply that there was a need for it. Yet they did as instructed.

• How have I responded when God called me to do something that seemed to be absurd?

Monday, April 10

“I, your God, have called you for the victory of justice, I have grasped you by the hand; I formed you, and set you as a covenant of the people, a light for the nations, to open the eyes of the blind, to bring prisoners from confinement, and from the dungeon, those who live in darkness.” – Isaiah 42:6-7

“We cannot do our work if we all stay in the nest.” – Saint Mother Theodore Guerin

• How does God call me to shine, to be a light to the world?
• What does this call ask of me?

Tuesday, April 11

“Though I thought I had toiled in vain, and for nothing, uselessly, spent my strength, yet my reward is with my God, my recompense is with my God.” – Isaiah 49:4

“Let us hope that the few seeds sown may not remain unproductive of fruit.” – Saint Mother Theodore Guerin

• When has God led me to make a decision that doesn’t seem to have tangible results?
• How do I trust that God will make my efforts worthwhile, even when I cannot see the results?

Wednesday, April 12

“God has given me a well-trained tongue, that I might know how to speak to the weary a word that will rouse them.” – Isaiah 50:4

“Please give me a little share in your prayers. After a life of such activity and dissipation, I need special grace in order to bring myself back to recollection of spirit and become a true Religious. Surely it is time.” – Saint Mother Theodore Guerin

• How have words of others provided encouragement when I needed it?
• How do I cultivate attitudes of hope, perseverance, and renewal in myself and spread them to others?

Holy Thursday, April 13

“What I am doing, you do not understand now, but you will understand later.” – John 13:7

“If ever this poor little Community becomes settled, it will be established on the cross; and that is what gives me confidence and makes me hope, sometimes even against hope.” – Saint Mother Theodore Guerin

• What is God asking me to trust right now?

Good Friday, April 14

“He grew up like a sapling before him, like a shoot from the parched earth; there was in him no stately bearing to make us look at him, nor appearance that would attract us to him. He was spurned and avoided by people, a man of suffering, accustomed to infirmity, one of those from whom people hid their faces, spurned, and we held him in no esteem.” – Isaiah 53:2-3

“It is astonishing that this remote solitude has been chosen for a novitiate and especially for an academy. All appearances are against it.” – Saint Mother Theodore Guerin

• When has a superficial appearance or initial impression caused me to doubt?
• When have I been surprised when I moved beyond an initial impression and found something more worthwhile beneath the surface?

Extra Challenge:
Set aside an hour to encounter someone you may have otherwise avoided. Go to a worship service in the tradition of Islam, Judaism, Hinduism, Sikhism, or another religion you don’t know. Sit on the side of the road with someone who has a sign asking for money. Go to a soup kitchen and make it a priority to sit with someone, even sharing a meal with him or her. Start a relationship (by letter or in person) with someone in prison.

Holy Saturday/Easter Vigil, April 15

“God saw how good it was.” – Genesis 1:12

“Every evening at the same hour when the weather was calm, I used to go on deck and bless God for all the wonders of His creation. I loved to consider the care of God’s Providence which extends even to the little fishes.” – Saint Mother Theodore Guerin

• How often do I take time to appreciate the beauty around me and enjoy life?
• How can I cultivate habits of joy and appreciation?

Happy Easter!