Keep Your Mind in Hell, But Do Not Despair

If we have embraced the spiritual practices of Lent with any level of integrity, the weakness of our faith has surely become apparent to us. Our minds wander when we pray and so much else seems more important than being fully present before the Lord, both in the services of the Church and in our daily prayers at home. We often make excuses not to fast to the best of our ability and, regardless of what we eat and drink, routinely indulge our self-centered desires for pleasure. We justify being stingy in sharing our resources and attention with our neighbors, especially when we fear that doing so will compromise our dreams of self-sufficiency and comfort. By this point in Lent, we have all gained insight into how we have failed to entrust ourselves to Christ to the point that we can say with the brokenhearted father in today’s gospel reading, “Lord, I believe; help my unbelief!”

Eastern Christian Insights · Fr. Philip LeMasters, and Ancient Faith Ministries