During some Sundays of Lent there are alternate readings for Masses where our brothers and sisters preparing to receive the sacraments of initiations at Easter are present. This week for those Masses, the Gospel is the story of Jesus healing the man born blind in John chapter 9. It’s a good one as we continue in our series on how to pray with Ignatian Contemplation!

As we continue our Lenten series on how to pray with Ignatian Contemplation, we have an interesting opportunity this weekend. Often, contemplations are done with Gospel stories. But Old Testament stories can be good too! This Sunday, the first reading is the story of Moses and the burning bush. You might want to try praying with it during the week ahead.

“While he was praying his face changed in appearance and his clothing became dazzling white…” This second Sunday of Lent the Gospel story gives us lots of good material as we continue in our series on how to pray with Ignatian Contemplation! You might want to try it in some quiet time during this week.

Imagine praying more profoundly than ever before this Lent. Or perhaps I should say: pray using your imagination. Over the 5 weeks of Lent, in these articles and in select homilies each weekend, we’ll dive profoundly into Ignatian Contemplation, a way of praying by placing ourselves within the stories of Scripture. St. Ignatius of Loyola gives us the guide for this method of prayer in his Spiritual Exercises, and it’s had a profound impact for nearly 500 years.