Archive for the Lent category

Blessings to you on this Fat Tuesday/Shrove Tuesday/Mardi Gras/Ash Wednesday Eve! I continue to be so grateful for the opportunity to travel through Advent with so many of you on the Illuminated Retreat, and also to have you share in the Women’s Christmas Retreat that I created for Epiphany this year. As we prepare to […]

Lent is drawing close, already! It was such a remarkable gift to travel through Advent with so many of you on the Illuminated Retreat, and also to have you share in the Women’s Christmas Retreat. As we look toward the coming season, I would love for you to join us for the all-new online retreat […]

Advent and Christmas are not so very far behind us, and already we’re standing at the edge of Lent! As Ash Wednesday draws near, I want to let you know that Gary and I will be offering an online retreat during Lent. We so enjoyed traveling with many of you during our online Advent retreat, […]

Shopping for Spices © Jan L. Richardson In some of the medieval mystery plays that depicted the events around Jesus’ death and resurrection, there developed an imaginative scene involving Mary Magdalene and two of her friends. In this scene, which elaborates upon details offered in the gospel texts, Mary Magdalene goes with Mary the mother […]

And so we come to Good Friday and to the cross that we have been moving toward throughout this Lenten season. Here at the cross we meet the women who did not leave Jesus in his suffering and death. I think again of Etty Hillesum, with whom we traveled earlier in this season, and how […]

The Daughters of Jerusalem © Jan L. Richardson As Jesus walks toward his crucifixion, a group of women follow after him, wailing in their grief. “Daughters of Jerusalem, do not weep for me,” he says to them, “but weep for yourselves and for your children. For the days are surely coming when they will say, […]

As we spend these days with the women of Holy Week and Easter, today’s reflection draws our attention to the wife of Pilate. We see her just this once, emerging from the background to speak an urgent word to her husband on behalf of Jesus. Text Matthew 27:11-19 The Dream Send to those on the […]

During Holy Week we are reflecting on some of the women whom we encounter in the stories around Jesus’ death and resurrection. As we move through this week, what do you notice about these women? Whom do you gravitate toward? Who gives you pause? What questions do they prompt for you? Text Mark 14:66-72 That […]

Friday from Noon till Three (The Magdalene’s Lament) © Jan L. Richardson Invocation God of the shadows, you accompany us even in our most painful times. May I know the abiding passion you have for me; may I taste it, drink of it, feel it in the touch of those who journey with me. Context […]

So what shall we carry with us from this story of a woman who anointed Jesus? What is the shape of the vessel she slips into our hands as she leaves the table, and what will we do with it? How does she inspire us to pour ourselves out in the days to come? As […]