Top Websites for Lenten Prayer

Using a few top websites for Lenten prayer may seem too simple a way to improve your celebration of Lent. Christians view Lent as a time for spiritual growth and for turning our lives more towards God, difficult tasks for sure. In fact sometimes the very idea of Lent, makes us want to run in the opposite direction. Lent lasts a long time - forty days, wow that's more than a month of turning in a new direction. And Lent is demanding, it's supposed to be a time of serious fasting, alms giving, prayer. and Christian action. If you really want to make the most out of Lent this year, you might not have to look any further than right in front of you. That's right, you can fashion a meaningful Lenten prayer experience by using your computer and selecting websites that can make prayer less of a chore and easier to incorporate into your day.

Henri Nouwen Daily Meditations. Henri Nouwen was a spiritual thinker and writer with a background that carries from his early priestly career in his home country of the Netherlands, to work at divinity schools at both Yale and Harvard, to time spent in South America discerning his true spiritual calling by working among the poor, to years of living in community with mentally challenged in Toronto, Canada. Along the way Nouwen grew spiritually and shared his growth in his writings.

Those who have delved into Nouwen's writings know they can be spiritually delightful but also seriously challenging. By accessing a Nouwen related website you can cull his thinking without having to commit to reading an entire book. You can discover Nouwen and a little more about your spiritual self, by reading the short reflective paragraphs offered each day on line on Nouwen centered site that features "Daily Meditations" (site listed below). Read it once slowly, consider how its meaning is a call to you. Read it a second time and consider how you might answer that call. Don't look now but you are praying. And you can complete this prayer in under 5 minutes. Might not sound like the old fashioned Lent, but that doesn't mean it isn't just as effective in helping you to turn your life slowly back towards God.

Creighton on line ministries: stations of the cross . A traditional prayer format revisited by many Christians during Lent is known as the "Stations of the Cross". The focus of this prayer are 14 stops along the way followed by Christ to his death on the cross. Each stop, such as "Jesus Meets the Women of Jerusalem" or "Jesus Falls a Third Time" are meant to give Christians spiritual pause. As we reflect on the particular "station" we think of what was actually happen to Jesus as he gave his life for us. But the stations also allow us to think of our own lives and the ways we share Jesus journey.

It can be helpful as we pray the Stations of the Cross to have prompts that will direct our reflection and take us deeper into the mystery of God's love for us. One such source can be found on Creighton Universities website for on line ministries ( site listed below). Creighton University in Omaha, Nebraska is a Catholic college led by Jesuit priests. The site offers a number of on line reflective services including reflective recitations of the Stations of the Cross. By visiting the site and clicking on the traditional stations or the stations as seen through Mary's eyes, without ever leaving your computer you can simply close your eyes and place yourself at the scene of Jesus suffering and death at Calvary. For people who cannot get to church to participate in a community praying of the Stations of the Cross or for those who wishes to connect with the stations on a daily basis this site is a wonderful prayer tool.

United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. Do you remember the old days when lots of Catholic families made the effort to attend mass every day as part of their Lenten discipline? People where I live in New England would climb over snow drifts, ignore the sub-freezing temps and make their way to that 7 a.m. mass before their school or work day started.

Maybe that's not for you, but you still would like to connect with the daily mass celebration as a way of praying through Lent. If so the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops are at your service. Through the auspices of USCCB a website is provided ( listed below) which provides a day by day listing of the readings used at mass by Catholic congregations around the world. You can sit at your computer, call up the site, click on the date and immediately have before you the lectionary readings you would hear if you could attend mass. You then have the luxury of pausing over or repeating your reading of those passages that touch you or have special meaning in your life.

The wonderful thing about using top websites for Lenten prayer is that it allows you the chance to move to prayer at the click of a key. There can be as few distractions as you like and you can stay with your prayer as long or as briefly as seems appropriate because you know you can switch back to prayer mode whenever the mood strikes you. You are in control of your own Lenten prayer discipline.

Lent comes every year, but you can celebrate it as you choose. One way might be to take advantage of some of the great websites out there and let them help you to pray your way through Lent.

Sources: www.henrinouwen.org

http://onlineministries.creighton.edu/CollaborativeMinistry/stations.html

http://www.usccb.org/nab/