"I rejoice that souls ask for much, because it is my desire to give much, very much.
On the other hand, I am sad when souls ask for little, when they narrow their hearts." (Diary, 1578)
Jesus to St. Faustina
Ash Wednesday - February 18, 2026. Lent begins, once again! A time of detachment and of asking the Lord to "set charity in order" within us (Song of Songs 2:4). It is a time when we endeavour to detach from all that prevents us from giving over everything that we are to Love Himself, and a time to believe that God's grace at work in us enables us to become attached to all that is ordered towards the highest, the best, the loveliest, the fullest and the holiest.
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​Marcel and I have decided that this Lent, our "discipline" would be to detach ourselves from all the unbelief that resides in our hearts, minds, memories and imagination. Of course, we will have more incarnational disciplines, but what we are aiming for is to come to a place where we believe, with every fibre of our beings, that we are immensely loved and that because of this Love, we can approach the throne of grace with great confidence, believing that ALL of our prayers will be heard and answered. All we need do is ASK!
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This confidence is called "PARRHESIA" in Greek and the word is derived from pan (everything) and rhe (to speak). This word refers to the privilege of the full citizen's freedom of speech and the ability to "say everything" in frankness of speech. Because of Jesus, the door to the Father stands open, and we can enter in and speak all that is in our hearts, without fear and with humble boldness. ​In fact, St. John uses this word in:
1 John 3:21
My dear friends,
if our own feelings do not condemn us,
we can be fearless (parrhesia) before God,
and whatever we ask
we shall receive from him.
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​So we shall strive to scale the heights of the mountains and plummet the depths of the waters, in faith. We shall continue to stretch our necks out and ask as Jesus so wishes us to do, and believe that He really, truly does wish for us to ask much. It blesses Him and gives Him joy. And through this process, we shall come out on the other side of this season of Lent, strengthened and empowered because our "loves" have been set in order.
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Have a wonderful and blessed Lent!
"The Giraffe" vision
