Who Shares Your Lenten Journey?

Nancy Jordan, Ed.D. '86

Mission Integration Director, Providence St. Joseph Health

February, 2020

This past Wednesday, we entered into the sacred season of Lent, an opportunity for focused spiritual introspection as we travel 40 days towards Holy Week. We ask, "What keeps us from a stronger relationship with God?" We wonder, "What could I do to position myself to lead a fuller, healthier life?" We propose, "What can I give up or take on that will remind me to break down relational barriers?" As a medical group Mission Leader, one of my treasured duties is to travel throughout Northern California Providence St. Joseph Health medical practices to administer ashes on Ash Wednesday. Recipients often use the opportunity to share their stories with me and each year, I'm left breathless by those who share my Lenten journey...

...the Medical Assistant who's 21 weeks pregnant with her first baby

...the patient who reminisced about the little boy in her religious education class who refused to receive ashes because he thought they were hot

...the Physician who asked me to use my pinky finger to reduce the amount of ash that might distract from patient care

...the patient who responded "Absolutely not. I don't want those."

...the patient who was hesitant to accept ashes due to the radiation treatment she was about to receive and her son who jumped in and said, "Can I receive them for her?"

...the Nurse who shared that her child had just been diagnosed with autism

...the patient who said, "Thank you. I thought ashes might not be given because people are scared to touch someone's skin and get sick."

The distribution of ashes offers some theological obviousness; the start of Lent, the recognition of the human life cycle, a day of fasting. But it also offers something more, the transcendent experience of the sacred encounter. Take a moment to consider the stories of those who share your Lenten journey. If you were the one distributing ashes in your community, what stories would you have heard? What stories might our Carondelet High School community have shared? Worries about friends, families, test scores, budgets, politics, pandemics? Lent is certainly a time of personal reflection but it's also an opportunity to fold in the experience of others.  

I am thankful for all those who walk the journey of Lent with me, most of whom do not know their role in my heart. My employees, patients, the worried, the joyful, the anxious, those with faith, those who struggle to find faith, those who are poor, those who are vulnerable - I will carry their stories with me into these 40 days of reflection.  

Who's sharing your Lenten journey?