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Are you looking for a fulfilling way to grow closer to Christ this Lent? We are
offering a few different books/studies this year. You can do these as a family,
couples, or individually. We will be offering small groups too!
Contact Julie at julie.g@cathedraljc.org for more information.

The Paschal Mystery: Reflections for Lent and Easter
(wordonfire.org)
In this new book from Word on Fire, readers are offered a
week-by-week guide through these sacred seasons with a
series of reflections on Lenten themes like death,
temptation, repentance, prayer, fasting, almsgiving, the
events of the Paschal Mystery of Christ recalled during
Holy Week, and the joy of the Gospel reflected in the
Easter season.
The Paschal Mystery is a perfect companion guide for
parishes, families, and individuals longing for a deeper
encounter with Christ during Lent and Easter.

Return by Fr. John Burns
Reorient your mind and heart this Lent so you can more
fully experience the joy of Easter—Christ’s victory over sin
and death. In this beautiful guided journal for prayer and
meditation, Fr. John Burns—author of the bestselling and
award-winning book Adore—invites you to strip away your
confusion, attachments, and sin so you can return to the
Lord and undergo real and lasting conversion.
In the liturgy’s first reading on Ash Wednesday, the
prophet Joel calls us to wholehearted conversion: “Even
now, says the Lord, return to me, with your whole heart,
with fasting and weeping and mourning, rend your hearts,
not your garments, and return to the Lord, your God” (Jl
2:12–13).
Each week throughout Lent, Burns breaks down these two verses:

Week 1, return to me—recognize the need to reorient our lives through Lent;

Week 2, return to me with your whole heart—reorient not only the mind but
also the heart to the Lord;

Week 3, return to me with fasting—acknowledge hardness of heart and the
value of discipline;

Week 4, return to me with weeping and mourning—bring forward personal
agonies and unbind hidden bitterness that divides us from God; and

Week 5, Rend your hearts, not your garments, return to the Lord, your God.

Then, during Holy Week and the Resurrection on Easter, you are invited to weave
your own stories into that of the Paschal Mystery. Burns uses the opening prayer of
each day’s Mass—called the Collect—as a starting point for your meditations
throughout the forty days leading up to Easter Sunday. He also focuses on the
traditional Lenten practices of prayer, fasting, and almsgiving—which practices
come together as our sacred penance during this solemn season and ultimately
lead us to heaven. Each day of Return includes the prayer from the Collect, an
inspiring meditation, thought-provoking reflection questions, and a prayer. There’s
plenty of space for journaling as well. Return features stunning original art by
Josiah Henley of Heart of IESVS. Free weekly companion videos, a downloadable
discussion guide, and other resources make this book perfect for parish-wide,
individual, and book club use leading up to Easter.