Thursday of the third week of Lent, 2023

“If today you hear his voice, harden not your hearts.”

Today’s readings and response are centered around turning towards God and opening up our hearts to Him and His will. We hear that of all the people, ever since their “fathers left the land of Egypt,” no one has obeyed God. They have toiled over their work for ages, with their backs towards Him.

Sometimes, when we get so bogged down with work – our clients’ struggles, paperwork and other tasks of daily life – it becomes easy to push aside time for prayer. We want to help our clients, and that becomes the main priority to solve. But I challenge you to think about how prayer can nourish that situation and make it more fruitful. Rather than pushing prayer until later or until tomorrow, bring the current tasks into that prayer and hear God’s voice for that moment. Let His voice open up your heart to better care for your job and tasks. Allow Him to speak to you and work through you to help your clients.

How can we turn our faces towards God, bring Him into our everyday tasks, and allow God to lead us towards far more fruitful lands than we can get to on our own? In what ways, this Lenten season, can we reinvigorate our prayer lives to listen for God’s voice throughout the day and incorporate prayer into our service?

Kimberly Phelan is the Parish Engagement Coordinator for Catholic Charities Fort Worth. She is currently pursuing a Masters in Pastoral Theology through the Augustine Institute.