Saturday Feb 21

Father, I'm scared you'll leave me like everyone else has. I know you promise to never forsake me, but I struggle to believe it because everyone eventually leaves. People have disappointed me, abandoned me, walked away when I needed them most. I keep expecting you to do the same - to final

Return to Me with all your heart - not just outward actions but genuine turning. I'm not impressed by fasting and rituals if your heart isn't in it. Tear your heart, not just your garments. Come back to Me, because I'm gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and abounding in love. I'm re

In four days, Ash Wednesday begins the Lenten season - forty days (excluding Sundays) of preparation leading to Easter. The practice dates to the early church, when new converts would spend forty days in intensive preparation for baptism at Easter. Eventually, the whole church joined them