By BISHOP ROBERT J. BAKER
During this holy season of Lent, our Lord has called each of us to deepen our relationship with him and one another through prayer and sacrifice. The Lenten season is a new occasion for us to follow Christ who engaged himself in prayer and sacrifice for 40 days and 40 nights. This Lenten season we are reminded to stretch beyond our current life of prayer and sacrificial giving of ourselves to seek a new level of communication with God our father in the Spirit.
Though we often equate sacrifice as having to do without, we might more prayerfully view it as an opportunity to look beyond ourselves in identifying with those most in need in our midst. The time we spend in prayer is nourishment for the soul. Prayer is gratifying. It impacts every aspect of daily life. Prayer provides us with answers and guidance. When prayer becomes our daily priority, our problems are put into perspective and seen from the perspective of eternity (sub specie aetermitatis).
A firm commitment toward the stewardship of prayer will be the foundation that makes all things possible in our personal lives, in our families, in our diocese.
Prayerful people are people of hope. Let us rejoice in the hope Christ brings us in a fuller way this Lenten season, and always.