One of the most powerful Lenten experiences I had was in Haiti when our Catholic Lenten journey overlapped with the Muslim celebration of Ramadan. At that time, I had a nurse from Canada who volunteered to work with us at our mission house. Shaheena was and is Muslim and we decided to fast and pray together and share the insights of our faith. Each day we agreed that we would take time to engage in self-reflection with our relationship with God. We reminded each other to be alert to the ways God was speaking to our hearts throughout the day. It was sort of like “our moment closest to God.”
Each evening, we sat together to share our reflections from our journey that day. In many ways, knowing that I needed to share with someone the self-reflection made it easier for me to focus and listen the power of God’s Holy Spirit speaking to my heart. I needed to be accountable to the journey and take it seriously.
As the time of fasting and prayer continued, it proved to be more powerful to both of us that faith deepens when we are together on the faith journey. As I reflect on Jesus’ journey in desert for forty days and nights, he was not at all alone. He was “filled with the Holy Spirit” and “led by the Spirit.” My relationship and ability to listen to the Holy Spirit deepened during the Alpha journey. At the same time, I realize that the Lenten journey for me needs more than “me and the Holy Spirit.” I need someone with skin on to help bring my self-reflection into focus. I need someone to encourage me to seek forgiveness and to hold me accountable.
The Alpha journey plants the seeds and gives us the tools to have a living relationship with Jesus Christ. At the same time, it enables us to finally begin to engage in self-reflection and to articulate what is actually happening on the faith journey.
It is early in the Lenten journey. Is there someone who can help you focus and hold you accountable to the journey? Maybe as a family you can make time each day to talk about the faith journey and help each other to grow. It’s never too early to walk together in faith.
How lucky I was to find someone like Shaheena to journey with me. The Christian and Muslim bond continues to this day.