practicing pilgrimage at home and abroad
With Advent nearly upon us and Christmas festivities around us in full swing, Jenn Giles Kemper of Sacred Ordinary Days shares with us how we can infuse spirituality and intention into this season and the seasons to come through following the Liturgical Year.
Be sure to listen all the way to the end—we’re giving away a new Sacred Ordinary Days Liturgical Day Planner to a lucky winner!
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Almsgiving isn’t a term we use often these days—it’s an Old English term that refers to giving food and money to the poor—but it is a practice that’s needed just as much now as it was needed then. In fact, as we mention in today’s episode, it’s kingdom work—not only because it is encouraged by Christ but also because Christ tells us through the Beatitudes that it is through the peacemakers, the merciful, the meek, and the poor in spirit that the kingdom of God is revealed.
In today’s discussion we explore our experiences of giving and, following the framework of the prayers of the people, offer ideas on how you can express generosity in all areas of life in creative and unique ways.
Listen/download below or through iTunes or your favorite podcast app, and catch up on past episodes here. And if you like what you hear, would you mind sharing it on social media and leaving a review? Here’s how.
This week on the Sacred Ordinary Days Podcast we’re continuing our conversation on the season of Lent with a discussion on the practice of prayer—what it was like for us growing up, how we experience it in our current seasons of life, and what practices and tools have become meaningful along the way.
Listen/download below or through iTunes or your favorite podcast app, and catch up on past episodes here. And if you like what you hear, would you mind sharing it on social media and leaving a review? Here’s how.
Many of us will begin this season with an Ash Wednesday service where we will receive ashes on our foreheads and be reminded that our time here is transient, but I hope you choose to begin this season with the latest episode of the Sacred Ordinary Days Podcast, too. In it, we introduce the season of Lent and talk about Ash Wednesday, discernment, and one of the major practices of the season—fasting.
We’ll also continue the conversation as the season progresses with episodes exploring prayer and almsgiving—two additional practices of the season—and end with an episode during Holy Week before the Easter season begins. I love that we’ll be able to journey together in this season of self-examination and devotion, and I hope you’ll decide to come along.
So often Lent is associated with death and with fasting, but that’s not the whole story. It’s about the stripping of the false self in order to call forth the true self—the imago dei. It’s about surrendering the things that don’t give life in order to allow the things that do to flourish. It’s about clearing away the brush of winter and making space in our lives so we can tend to the new growth that comes with spring.
Lent is about omission and waiting, yes, but it’s also about taking action—about drawing close to God so that we may be refined, refreshed, and made new, just as Jesus was in the desert.
What will I be doing this Lent?
I’ll be giving up my typical morning reading during the season of Lent to make space for reading Scripture again. I’ve been taking a break for a while and am curious eager to revisit the stories of Jesus with fresh eyes as I learn from his life what it truly means to strip off the false self and allow the true self to bloom. Because of its ties to Celtic spirituality, I’ve chosen the gospel of John, and I’ll be practicing lectio divina with each passage in hopes of gleaning Sacred wisdom both old and new.
Interested in joining me? I’ve created a free guide to help make this practice your own during the season of Lent (PDF). Click the image below to download the guide and feel free to pass it on!
In this season of Lent, how will you usher in a springtime of the soul by setting aside the things that inhibit growth and making space for the budding of Sacred blooms?