AECI Lenten 2025 Reflection: 'Steer Us From Hardness Of Heart' (Week Five: Peace And Understanding)

AECI Lenten 2025 Reflection: 'Steer Us From Hardness Of Heart'

Week 5, Day 1: Peace And Understanding

'So I tell you this, and insist on it in the Lord,

that you must no longer live as the Gentiles do,

in the futility of their thinking. 

They are darkened in their understanding

and alienated from the life of God

because of the ignorance that is in them

due to the hardening of their hearts'

(Ephesians 4:17-24)

This coming week we are to focus on a little more on what it might mean to share in 'the life of God' as St. Paul conveys in his Letter to the Ephesians urging them to remain true in all aspects of their faith.

A good starting point might to think again of a period of time in our lives when we felt separated from God , away from any sense of divine presence or touch. It might be a time when our mental and emotional state was disrupted or confused, it might be when we had no sense of the strength or sustenance of a 'Father in heaven'.

Perhaps it was a moment when our very grasp or understanding of the width, height and depth of 'divine life' faded. When we looked to 'the self' or the world around us for quick and easy answers.

What was it that pierced through these thoughts and emotions? What was it that allowed for an 'acceptance' of your given circumstances at the time? How did you find a glimmer of light or direction in those 'dark; and difficult moments?

To cultivate a peaceful and receptive heart so as to share in the life of God is not an a quick process. St Teresa of Avila gives assurance that our hearts can find a way back when they stray : 'Let nothing disturb you. let nothing frighten you, all things are passing' , she writes.