Today we begin the season of Lent.
On Ash Wednesday we are reminded that we are dust - that life is fragile, that we do not always get things right, that we need God’s mercy.
For forty days, we walk with Jesus in the wilderness - a place of testing, but also of trust.
We see his faithfulness. We see his steady confidence in the Father. And we are invited to place our own trust in him.
Lent is not always an easy road. But it is a hopeful one.
It is a season of return.
Return to Christ, who knows our weakness.
Return to Christ, who meets us with mercy.
Return to Christ, who leads us towards hope.
In a world that can feel anxious and divided, this season offers something steady: confidence not in ourselves, but in the love and grace of Jesus.
May these forty days draw us closer to him, and renew in us a quiet, resilient hope.
The Temptation in the Wilderness by Briton Rivière