Now available from the McGrath Institute for Church Life: download your free copy here.
Lent is a pilgrimage made by practices of repentance and prayer towards the passion, death, and Resurrection of Jesus. In partnership with Our Sunday Visitor, the McGrath Institute for Church Life is providing a free Lenten resource to guide groups from parishes, schools, or other communities into prayerful reflection of Scripture and substantive faith–sharing as part of the Lenten journey. The common book for this journey is A God Who Questions, which gives readers the opportunity to make a “scriptural pilgrimage” to encountering Christ, which is especially pertinent during the Church’s broader Lenten pilgrimage.
This resource recommends a six-week reading and faith sharing group. Each group meeting is ideally 60–75 minutes, all of which is dedicated to prayer and discussion. The agenda for each meeting follows a basic pattern:
Opening prayer, including Intercessions and the Lord’s prayer
Option for paired conversation, or “mini-group” conversation
Group discussion, with suggested questions provided for each session
Short period of individual journaling or reflection
Closing prayer
Download this free resource here. For a glimpse of what is included, a sketch of the first week of the six-week journey is included below.
Week 1: The Risk of Presence
A God Who Questions: Intro + Chapters 1–3
Opening Prayer
Leader: O God, come to our assistance.
All: O Lord, Make haste to help us
Leader: Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit
All: As it was in the beginning, is now and will be forever. Amen.
Leader: Lord our God, you formed man from the clay of the earth and breathed into him the spirit of life, but he turned from your face and sinned. In this time of repentance we call out for your mercy. Bring us back to you and to the life your Son won for us by his death on the cross, for he lives and reigns for ever and ever. Amen.[1]
Intercessions[2]
Leader: Let us give glory to Christ the Lord, who became our teacher and example and our brother. Let us pray to him, saying:
All: Lord, fill your people with your life.
Leader: Lord Jesus, you became like us in all things but sin; teach us how to share with others their joy and sorrow,
All: that our love may grow deeper every day.
Leader: Help us to feed you in feeding the hungry,
All: and give you drink in giving drink to the thirsty.
Leader: You raised Lazarus from the sleep of death,
All: grant that those who have died the death of sin may rise again through faith and repentance.
Leader: Inspire many to follow you with greater zeal and perfection,
All: through the example of the blessed Virgin Mary and the saints.
Leader: Let the dead rise in your glory,
All: to enjoy your love for ever.
Leader: For what else shall we pray?
(People may offer intentions aloud, or call them to mind silently).
Leader: Gathering all our prayers into one, let us pray as Jesus taught us:
All: Our Father...
Discussion Questions
What are you looking for in your prayer life and your reading of Scripture? Are you willing to be changed?
What causes noise in your life? In your mind, in your heart, in your home, in your community? How can you separate yourself from the noise?
How do you listen for Jesus’ voice? How might you listen more intently?
What do you hold on to too tightly? Might it be your reputation, your comfort, your education, your control, your addiction, or your image of yourself (for better or worse)?
Short Period for Personal Reflection and/or Journaling
Closing Prayer (recite together):
Father, through our observance of Lent, help us to understand the meaning of your Son’s death and resurrection, and teach us to reflect it in our lives. Grant this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, on God, for ever and ever. Amen.[3]
