VICAR

Dear Readers of Country Squire Magazine I trust that You are well. I thought that perhaps You might need some encouragement to continue with Your Lenten promises and so this week I will give You a short prayer to keep on track.

Here are 4 areas to concentrate on:

Sanctify your life
Prayer sanctifies Your life. Now is the time to pray. I recommend keeping a personal prayer journal, which will help You cultivate compassion through prayer.

Simplify your life
Now is the time to empty your closets and give away as much to charity as you can. Our lives are full of material things that demand our time and focus, but yet aren’t worthy of them. Life will always tend to be complex, but the chaos of our impermanent possessions prevents us from fully applying ourselves to rich relationships and a fulfilling spiritual life.

Focus your life
Our smartphones can receive more of our personal attention then our friends and loved ones. We regularly connect with the world, but the distractions of technology prevent us from connecting with the people we see every day. Lent is the time to courageously focus your life, and give yourself to what is deserving of your love. Identify the things that pull You away from presence and mindfulness and remove or deprioritise them where possible.

Most importantly: honour Christ’s life
Focusing on these areas can help us live a more Christ-like life. I pray that when we all reach the Feast of the Holy Resurrection, we have changed our lives, even just a little, to more closely resemble a living icon of Christ.

God Bless You All.

Today’s prayer follows:

My precious and crucified Lord, I offer You this Lent. I offer it to You with total abandonment and trust. I offer You my prayers, sacrifices and my very life this day. Do with me, Lord, as You will. Amen