As we enter the fourth week of Lent, the Newman University community offers daily reflections that invite us deeper into the season’s spiritual journey.
Faculty, staff, alumni and friends share personal insights on Scripture readings that highlight God’s unwavering love, Jesus as God’s ambassador, and our call to trust in divine providence despite life’s challenges.
These meditations encourage prayer, reconciliation and renewed faith as we continue our Lenten pilgrimage toward Easter.
March 30: Fourth Sunday of Lent
Joshua 5:9, 10 – 12; 2 Corinthians 5:17 – 21; Luke 15:1 -3, 11 -32
Today’s selection from Paul’s letter to the Corinthians exhorts us to be Ambassadors of Christ. Likewise, the Gospel shows Jesus being an Ambassador of God to those who count themselves godly enough to judge the company Jesus kept to be ungodly. Jesus offers them a parable that invites his listeners to see God in the person of the father who never stops watching for the return of his son who cut ties with his family in a rash pursuit of a life of self-indulgence. The detail of the father spotting his son while he was still a long way off is significant. Jesus wants his listeners to realize that God is always vigilant in our behalf. God wants to gather us into his arms even in our sinfulness. The father has no time for his son’s self-recriminations. He has a celebration to set in motion: “my son was dead and has come back to life again; he was lost and has been found.”
May we gladden God’s heart by being Ambassadors of Christ welcoming all, especially those who most need reassurance that they belong at God’s welcome-table.
Kate Reid ASC
March 31: Monday, Fourth Week of Lent
Isaiah 65: 17 – 21; John 4:43 – 54
Just as God delivered prophetic words to the Hebrews in Isaiah, Jesus demonstrates God’s healing power in the Gospel of John. These acts of divine intervention offer hope, healing, faith, joy, and renewal. We anticipate a world free from sorrow, where God’s promises are fully realized through the ministry of Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior.
Robert Norman, Assistant Professor of Computer Science
April 1: Tuesday, Fourth Week of Lent
Ezekial 47:1 – 9, 12; John 5:1 – 3, 5 – 16
Take up your pallet and walk. A simple command with simple words that create an enthusiasm within me that goes far beyond simple. I think about my life and realize that every struggle and every strife passed into what has become this technicolor vision of beauty and happiness. I am reminded daily of the power that comes from taking each day as it comes, pushing through the winds of adversity knowing that God has asked me to walk this path, and giving Him my complete trust that He will and has shown me the way home to Him.
Joshua Schoenecker-Prilliman ’14, Director of Student Activities
April 2: Wednesday, Fourth Week of Lent
Isaiah 49:8 – 15; John 5:17 – 30
Jesus tells us that His “Father is always at work.” In recent weeks, I have been moved by icons of Christ in motion: Jesus calming the storm, Jesus offering the loaves and fish to His Father, etc. These remind me that Jesus is active in my own life. In this season of Lent, we offer sacrifices that move us toward God, but that has always been a two-way street. Jesus wants us to be with Him in heaven FAR more than you/I desire it ourselves. Jesus is always at work for our salvation. What are some ways you have seen Him working in your life?
Jack Wingate, Seminarian
April 3: Thursday, Fourth Week of Lent
Exodus 32:7 – 14; John 5:31- 47
So often we choose our own path and ignore the signs from God to walk the path he has chosen. It’s ok to ask for help from God and it’s ok to put our pride aside and accept that we don’t have all the answers, even when we think we do. We have to trust in our faith and Our Lord to provide the right path to get the answers we seek and need.
Tony Tamburro ’03, ‘07
April 4: Friday, Fourth Week of Lent
Wisdom 2:1, 12 – 22; John 7:1 – 2, 10, 25 – 30
Today’s readings speak of wicked men seeking to kill the virtuous man, Jesus. Jesus came to earth so that mankind would know and love God. The readings are a painful reminder of humankind’s stubborn unwillingness to turn away from our sinful nature. Blessedly, we have the gift of Lent, a time to reflect, repent, repair our relationship with God and return to His love. May we use each remaining day of Lent to do everything in our power to do God’s will and become the reflection of His love and mercy we were born to be.
Patricia Suddock, Grandmother of a Newman Student
April 5: Saturday, Fourth Week of Lent
Jeremiah 11:18 – 20; John 7:40 – 53
In life, we are often beset with challenges and what may appear to be schemes against us.
Jeremiah experiences this situation. Instead of giving up when faced with schemes against him, he trusts in God’s divine plan. Jesus faces a similar situation when the Pharisees show particular hostility, questioning his ministry, stating that no prophet or Messiah could ever come from Galilee. Jesus’ response foreshadows his response in the Garden of Gethsemane. When facing rejection, instead of asking that this “cup be taken from Him,” Jesus trusts in his Father’s divine providence, and boldly states, “Not my will, but thy will be done.” In these moments, Jesus expresses the fullness of His humanity – experiencing division, pain, and anguish, but choosing to trust.
During this Lent, may we like Jeremiah and Jesus come to trust God’s plan for us. May we know, despite anything we experience, we have a Savior who has experienced human anguish. Like Jesus, we face our own crosses with trust in God, knowing the Father has a plan for us and all we are asked to do is trust.
David J Lechleitner, DBA Candidate
