The Church's Springtime: Lent Daybook 2024

Finding our truest joy in Christ's death and resurrection

Dear Restful friends,

I’ve been thinking about you and praying for all of us as I curate our meditations for this year. As I write and reflect, I’m reminded that Jesus's restful way always moves in the shape of the cross. No matter how you plan to walk through Lent, may you know the restful way of the cross as you prepare your hearts, minds, and bodies for resurrection in Christ.

Yet, walking the cruciform way with Jesus leads, shockingly, to joy. Lent reminds us we are surrounded by the Church across the world and throughout time and trains us together to “lay aside every weight and the sin that clings so closely, and let us run with perseverance the race that is set before us.” And Jesus keeps us company and leads the way. Jesus, the “pioneer and perfecter of faith, who for the sake of the joy that was set before him endured the cross, disregarding its shame, and has taken his seat at the right hand of the throne of God.”¹

For the joy set before us and already given to us as children of…