Prepare for a Powerful and Hopeful Lent!
You have probably experienced at least a few of these situations in your life:
💔 On your way home, after a stressful day at work, you promise yourself that you will love your family generously no matter what might be waiting for you. But as soon as you walk in the door you end up slipping back into the same patterns that leave you struggling to love your spouse and kids and vowing to do better the next day.
💔 You make time to visit an elderly parent, resolve to be patient, loving, and understanding, only to once again end up frustrated and angry, regretting having failed to love them well.
💔 You’ve resolved a thousand times to do better with prayer but, when push comes to shove, it always seems easier to choose your own comfort over the discipline needed to pray, and it leaves you feeling guilty and hiding from God.
💔 At work you wrestle with the constant tendency to see everything through the lens of “you”: What do other people think about me and my work? Will the boss notice what I’m doing and recognize it? Am I performing better than my coworkers and team members? In all of this, you realize that you’re not really paying attention to the needs and cares of others, and it leaves you unhappy with yourself.
All of us experience struggles to love God and our neighbor. Sometimes the struggles are intense, but no matter how overwhelming it may seem, the good news is that victory is possible in this battle.
Often, we identify the sinful actions without identifying the deeper underlying roots that give rise to them. This is why we often get stuck in our spiritual life and don’t see real change. To really grow, we need to identify the deeper tendencies, the roots of selfishness that are at work within us.
Get ready to transform your heart!
Fr. Erik’s book “A Lenten Journey to Greater Love” will guide you this Lent as you explore the good news, that the Lord’s overwhelming grace is ready to bend our hearts outward in love of God and neighbor. Through these spiritual exercises, your heart will be strengthened and transformed. This Lent, be bold and trust in the power of God’s love to accomplish great things in you. Through these exercises, we will not only discover these tendencies that hold us back but develop the tools needed to combat them. Beginning Ash Wednesday through Easter Monday, these daily spiritual exercises of prayer and reflection will allow God in and to shape your heart in amazing ways.
Pre-sales are now available at $5 each.
Reserve your copy today of “A Lenten Journey to Greater Love” by Rev. Erik Arnold and be ready to be transformed.
Large Group Orientation
Mark your calendars for Sunday, Feb. 26. We will have a large group orientation at 7p.m. in the church to answer any questions that arise in those first few days of your journey as well as to gear up for small groups that will be launching that week. All are welcome.
Small Groups REIMAGINED!
This Lenten Journey is one that you will want to share with others as you dive deep into the inner workings of your heart and the transforming grace that God wants to bring about within you. To help guide you through this Lenten Journey, we will be introducing a new small group dynamic modeled on the techniques and prayer practicum that Fr. Erik studied in his spiritual direction courses at the Cenacle School. Stay tuned for more information and to register for small groups. Meetings will begin the week of Feb. 26 and run through Lent.
We are seeking small group leaders. If you are interested in becoming a small group leader, please contact Adam Novotny at anovotny@stjohnsp.org for more information. Training will be provided.
For other information and questions, please contact Debbie Rickert at drickert@stjohnsp.org.