Slideshow image

“Do not remember the former things, or consider the things of old. I am about to do a new thing; now it springs forth, do you not perceive it?” — Isaiah 43:18–19

Dear friends in Christ,

We are nearing the end of our Lenten journey. The season turns now toward Jerusalem, and toward the Cross. The readings for this Fifth Sunday in Lent shimmer with hope and tension—something is about to happen. Something new.

Isaiah speaks to a people wearied by exile, promising that God is not done with them. Not only is there a way forward—God is making that way, even now, even in the wilderness. Paul, too, writes of straining ahead, leaving behind all that once gave him status and certainty. In the Gospel, we meet Mary of Bethany, anointing Jesus’ feet with expensive perfume and wiping them with her hair. It is an extravagant act of devotion, yes—but also a moment of preparation. She, perhaps more than anyone else in that room, perceives what is coming.

Preparing for the New

Lent is traditionally a time of clearing out what no longer serves the life of faith. In ancient practice, this meant preparing catechumens for baptism—letting go of old allegiances, old identities, old wounds. Today, this clearing out may look like setting down habits of control or perfectionism; questioning assumptions we’ve inherited but never examined; or releasing our grip on resentments we’ve come to rely on.

In the work of reconciliation, this might mean letting go of paternalism, guilt that paralyzes, or outdated narratives about what reconciliation should look like. It might mean laying down defensiveness and receiving correction as grace.

Isaiah reminds us: God is already doing something new. The question is not whether God is at work—it is whether we are awake to it. “Do you not perceive it?”

To perceive it, we may need to make space.

This Lent, we have been walking together through a Rule of Life that included spiritual disciplines of reconciliation—committing to learning history, listening deeply, building relationships, and being good ancestors. These practices, rooted in love, make space in us for something new.

And perhaps we are being asked now to notice: what is God doing in your life that is unexpected? What new desire is stirring? What sacred discomfort won’t let you go? What wilderness path is being made, even now, in places you thought barren?

A Lenten Discipline

This week, take time to notice what no longer serves your spiritual growth or your commitment to reconciliation.

  • Is there an old belief or pattern of thought you’re being asked to release?
  • Is there a habit—personal or communal—that is quietly undermining the work of healing?
  • What do you need to let go of to make space for the new thing God is doing in you—or in our Church?

Write it down. Name it in prayer. Offer it up as Mary offered her perfume: not as waste, but as an act of trust.

Concrete Action: A Time of Release

As a concrete Lenten practice this week, identify one thing you can physically release—a possession, a piece of writing, a symbol of something you’re ready to let go of—and do so prayerfully.

This could be:

  • Donating a book that reflects outdated thinking
  • Letting go of a token or item linked to a harmful memory or way of being
  • Writing a prayer of release and burning or burying it as an act of trust

Offer this release to God as an act of preparation for what is coming.

A Prayer for the Fifth Week of Lent

God of the wilderness path and the road to Jerusalem,
You are always making a way—even when we do not see it.
Clear from us all that clings too tightly:
Old fears, old failures, old ways of being
That no longer serve your purposes.

Give us courage to make space—
For new relationships,
New healing,
New patterns of justice and joy.

Open our hearts to perceive the new thing
You are doing in our lives and our world.
And lead us, with Christ,
Toward the new creation you are already preparing.

In the name of Jesus,
Who is the Way. Amen.

Blessings,

Dean Chris+