Lent is meant to be a retreat to the desert to reset and orient ourselves toward God. Jesus was led by the Spirit to step away to the desert to fast, pray, and prepare for his public ministry. He spent 40 days in solitude to clear his mind and heart. Jesus emptied Himself to be filled by the Father for the journey ahead. Now it's our turn. Every year, we are gifted the 40 days of Lent to retreat from our usual routines and journey through our desert experience. This is a time

Last week's Daily Mass Readings from the Gospel of Luke contained a lot of woe! On Monday and Tuesday, we heard Jesus speak of the people as being an evil generation, and He called them fools. On Wednesday and Thursday, He literally cried out "Woe!" to them multiple times! (Read Luke, Chapter 11 ) Woe to you Pharisees! (2x) Woe to you! Woe also to you scholars of the law! (2x) Woe to you who build the memorials of the prophets whom your fathers killed. Whoa!!! That's a lot o