This is not your ordinary daily Lenten reflection. Taking the Gospel for the day as our reference point, I offer a poem that I hope will open a door to a place in your heart where you can connect with the heart of Jesus. However, I am not only a poet, but also a spiritual director. So to invite you even deeper, I have included specific suggestions for reflection and prayer. Read what others who have read an advance copy have to say.
Lent is (generally speaking) my least favorite season of the year. In the prolonged gray of late winter, it can grow wearisome to meditate daily on the call to repentance. But not this year. Clarence Heller’s poetry and reflections guide me down the familiar path toward conversion but in such a gentle and non-judgmental way that I do not tire from the journey. Instead, I look forward to turning the page and discovering how I might yet experience God’s love anew tomorrow.
– Dr. Ann M. Garrido, Associate Professor, Aquinas Institute of Theology, award winning author of numerous books including #Rules_of_Engagement (2022), Let’s Talk About Truth (2021) and Living Gospel: Lent 2018
Clarence Heller is a poet and spiritual teacher. In this Lenten booklet he offers a short but impactful poem and reflection for each day of Lent. If you are searching for a way to help you deepen your love for Jesus this Lent that is practical and inspiring, I recommend this pamphlet.
– Linda Straub, C.S.J., member of the leadership team for the Sisters of Saint Joseph of Carondelet, St. Louis Province
Clarence Heller has offered us in these Lenten poems and reflections an opportunity to engage in total affirmation and transformation in Christ. The Resurrection of Easter Sunday will never be more real as day by day during your Lenten journey you reflect and pray with these poems, reflections and scripture readings to become the authentic you God created. May this be for you and me, a Lent that enlightens the heart and brings freedom to the soul. The journey will never be more pure, more clear or more healing.
– Jane Guenther, M.Div., Director of Catholic Renewal Center, Archdiocese of St. Louis
Our Lenten journey takes us from the day we humble ourselves with the mark of the cross with ashes to the glorious and triumphant day of Christ’s resurrection. Allow Clarence Heller’s poems, reflections, and spiritual guidance to touch your heart, open your mind to new insights, and accompany you during Lent. Throughout the Lenten season, may the time you spend in prayer with every page of his Spirit-filled and inspired writing provide you with a profound experience of God’s love and mercy.
– Ethel Puno, C.C.V.I., General Secretary of the leadership team for the Congregation of the Sisters of Charity of the Incarnate Word, Houston, Texas
A Heart Journey Through Lent can be received through a daily email, a post on Facebook or a printed pamphlet.
Archives
Look for the archives once Lent begins… Ash Wednesday.