Praying with the Church Through Lent
Fr. Edward Looney
This is the ninth volume from Father Looney it is another excellent read it is a wonderful resource for growth in your spiritual life during Lent. The volume contains a total of 46 reflections for the days in Lent and 3 for specific Proper’s of Saints during Lent. I somehow missed the volume Praying with the Church through Advent, when it was released, a companion to this book. I have picked it up and plan to read it this year. It was inspiring and challenging to read these reflections. I read the book through in order to write this review, but plan on rereading the volume during Lent this year.
The description of this volume is:
“How recollected are you during the Collect, the Opening Prayer at Mass? To assist you in entering more deeply into the Mass and the mysteries of this sacred season, Fr. Edward Looney offers short daily meditations and reflection questions so that you may absorb all the richness of the prayers in the liturgy.
Whether over a cup of coffee or while resting in the Lord's Presence before or after Mass, these meditations inspire both fruitful contemplation and vibrant group discussion. Fr. Looney reveals to you how to follow the inspirations of the Holy Spirit more fully and intentionally. Journaling pages are included to help you remember the Lord's mercies and strengthen the resolutions that come to you during the time of prayer.
As you seek to imitate Christ more closely, you will discover:
• Ways to open your heart to receive the healing graces God has prepared for you
• Five aids God provides to strengthen you when you are weak
• "Weapons" that will help you attain victory in the battle against spiritual evils
• The advantages brought by fasting, self-denial, small acts of love, and charitable works
• Why repentance and frequent Confession bring true freedom
• How to develop a concrete game plan to benefit your soul on the journey to Heaven
These practical and relational meditations will help you grow in self-knowledge and wisdom in the "school" of the Holy Eucharist, Our Lady, and the saints. You will experience how God delights in you, grow in wholehearted devotion, and enjoy renewal in body, mind, and spirit.”
The chapters in this volume are:
Introduction
Week of Ash Wednesday
First Week of Lent
Second Week of Lent
Third Week of Lent
Fourth Week of Lent
Fifth Week of Lent
Palm Sunday and Holy Week
Easter Sunday
Proper of Saints
February 22 Chair of St. Peter
March 19 Solemnity of St. Joseph
March 25 The Annunciation
About the Author
Father Looney ends the introduction with these words:
“If you prayed along with my other book in this series, Praying with the Church through Advent, you will find a similar approach with this Lenten book. Each day we will pray with the Church by meditating on the Collect (the opening prayer of the Mass) given to her that day in the Roman Missal. The seasons of Advent, Christmas, Lent, and Easter are unique because each day has a unique Collect. Meditating on this prayer will make us more aware of the Church’s language of prayer, both via the words themselves and the theology of those prayers.
As we come to a deeper understanding of these prayers we can begin to live out the prayer of the Mass in daily life more intentionally and fruitfully. As we are sent forth at the end of Mass with the dismissal Ite or “Go forth,” what we have prayed for and received accompanies us as we leave the sacred and return to the world. By praying with the Church and meditating with her through the season of Lent, we hope to receive with open hands the graces for which we ask, for the benefit of our souls and for our eternal destiny.
Let us pray together during this sacred time and arrive at Easter more aware of the graces that we the Church — both corporately and individually — have been granted during this holy season.”
A sample reflection is:
“Ash Wednesday
TODAY’S COLLECT
Grant, O Lord, that we may begin with holy fasting
this campaign of Christian service,
so that, as we take up battle against spiritual evils,
we may be armed with weapons of self-restraint.
Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
God, for ever and ever. Amen.
There are a lot of different ways a person could approach and analogize the season of Lent. One year, writing a spiritual column for a secular newspaper, I compared Lent to a “do-over” for our New Year’s resolutions — this time inviting God and relying on His help for the season. It may not be the best analogy, but it works. We decide to be better Christians, better believers, and better followers of Jesus by praying more, making sacrifices, and giving alms.
Have you ever thought of Lent in terms of a militaristic analogy? Our Lenten prayer today contains several such references: our “campaign” of Christian service, “battle” against spiritual evils, and “weapons” of self-restraint. Let’s break down each of these references.
A military campaign is always a well-prepared mission with thought-out battle plans. Lent is a campaign of Christian service that entails service to God and neighbor. The campaign is also about our battle against spiritual evils. Evil is all around us. I think it’s interesting that the Church qualifies it as spiritual evil. Some of those spiritual evils certainly are the deadly sins and other vices that we face and with which we are tempted.
Aware of the evil and the ongoing battle against it, we need a lot of weapons at our disposal: the Rosary, Scripture, the wisdom of the saints, and the spiritual discipline of fasting. This last one, particularly during Lent, helps us to hone our weapon of self-restraint: through fasting and abstinence we cultivate our willpower and ability to deny ourselves something for a greater purpose and cause — and to make it easier to battle against bigger threats.
Our campaign of Christian service and battle against spiritual evils begins with a day of fasting. We eat smaller, simpler meals or maybe choose to fast on bread and water. Fasting is a powerful weapon for our spiritual battles. Jesus told His disciples that some demons can only be driven out by much prayer and fasting (Matt. 17:21). Again, the prayer of the Church modifies the word fasting, calling it “holy fasting.” This is to say that what we are doing today is different than fasting in the world and for secular intentions. Today we fast for the Lord and offer to Him our wants, desires, and hunger for a holy purpose. Through your prayer, fasting, and almsgiving today and during the rest of Lent, may you claim victory in the spiritual battles you are fighting with the spiritual weapons available to you from the richness of our Faith.
Reflection Questions
1. What are you battling in your spiritual life right now?
2. What weapons will you use?
3. How is your fasting this Lent going to be “holy”?”
Another from the Proper’s is:
“March 19 Solemnity of St. Joseph
TODAY’S COLLECT
Grant, we pray, almighty God,
that by Saint Joseph’s intercession
your Church may constantly watch over
the unfolding of the mysteries of human salvation,
whose beginnings you entrusted to his faithful care.
God the Father, in the fullness of time, sent an angel to a woman in Nazareth, betrothed to a man named Joseph, and announced to her that the promised one was to be born from her. Jesus was born into a family: Joseph was His provider and protector and Mary His mother. In the litany of St. Joseph there is a versicle and response: He made him master of His house, and ruler of all His possessions. This is truly who Joseph was: master of the house of the Lord and put in charge over all the possessions of God, including the second Person of the Blessed Trinity.
St. Joseph had a privileged role as foster father of Jesus and head of the Holy Family. He had a front-row seat to what God was doing in the world. He truly watched the mysteries of human salvation unfold, from the announcement of the Messiah to the birth, the presentation, and the finding in the temple, all the way to those hidden years with Jesus which are left only to our imagination. St. Joseph is the patron of the universal Church. Our prayer today parallels Joseph watching over Jesus to his watching over the Church today. The Church is called to be like Joseph, protecting Jesus and watching the unfolding of God’s plan.
Today is a day for us to “Go to Joseph,” as many of the great saints have suggested. As with devotion to Our Lady, there are countless stories of the power of Joseph’s intercession. We go to the one who listened intently to what the Savior of the world had to say to him, so that now he can go to the Savior with our requests. Go to Joseph and ask him to pray for you that you might live as virtuously as he did. Go to Joseph with whatever petition is on your heart right now and ask for the grace of which you stand in need. Allow St. Joseph to watch over you, a member of God’s holy family, the Church.
Reflection Questions
1. When have you sought the intercession of St. Joseph in your own life or in the life of your family?
2. What are some of your imaginings of those hidden years of the Holy Family? What are things that Jesus might have said to Joseph or Joseph to Jesus? Spend some time imagining and meditating on that aspect of the life of the Holy Family.
3. At this moment, how are you watching the unfolding of the mysteries of human salvation in your life?”
I hope those 2 reflections give you a feel for this excellent volume. I admit I was a little disappointed there was not a reflection for Saint Patrick, but that is just my heritage coming out. Each reflection follows the same format. The Collect, followed by the meditation, and then three Reflection Questions. There are some excellent reflections in this volume, and each will inspire, challenge, and encourage readers. This is a great volume to pick up and work through during Lent. The volume is available in print, eBook and audio formats.
This volume is well written, and easy to engage with. It is a wonderful volume that will spark curiosity and it will foster engagement and growth. It is a book that will benefit any Catholic readers. I can easily recommend this volume.
Note: This book is part of a series of reviews: 2025 Catholic Reading Plan!
Books by Fr. Edward Looney:
A Heart Like Mary's: 31 Daily Meditations to Help You Live and Love as She Does
Our Lady of Good Help Mary's Message and Mission for Adele Brise and the World
A Rosary Litany
Our Lady of Good Help Prayer Book For Pilgrims
Lenten Journey with Mother Mary
Behold the Handmaid of the Lord: A 10-Day Personal Retreat with St. Louis de Montfort’s True Devotion to Mary
Praying with the Church Through Advent
…
Children’s Books:
Little Chapels, Grateful Hearts
The Story of Sister Adele and Our Lady of Champion
Breakfast in Bethlehem
Fr. Looney's Christmas Stories
…
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