March 2025

Abandonment seems to always be related to something negative. An abandoned house, an abandoned baby, the fear of abandonment. So why would we use this word to relate it to the spiritual life? In reality abandonment in the spiritual life is nothing more than giving over jurisdiction to God. This includes our dreams, our plans, our desires, our hopes and our attachments. We do not abandon our heart to some cloud of intelligence or a God who gives us love like government handouts. We abandon our hearts to our Creator and we do so knowing that more than anyone in this world is rooting for us and has our best interest in mind.

Praying that we have the grace to abandon this month and this Lent in order to be closer to what ultimately will satisfy all the longings of our hearts: Divine Union.

May God bless you in this beautiful month of Saint Joseph, our dear patron of abandonment and surrender to his Father’s will.

Lastly, all the paintings in this month’s prayer prompt are from my favorite landscape artist, Thomas Cole. I came across his work in college at the MET and have been mesmerized since. Enjoy!

xx Mariana