William A. Barry - Lenten Meditations: Growing in Friendship with God

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Imprimi potest: Very Rev. Thomas J. Regan, SJ, provincial

With the exception of readings for Holy Thursday and Good Friday, all readings in this book are adapted from A Friendship Like No Other by William A. Barry (Chicago: Loyola Press, 2008).

Readings for Holy Thursday and Good Friday are adapted from Changed Heart, Changed Mind by William A. Barry (Chicago: Loyola Press, 2011).

Scripture quotations contained herein are from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Catholic Edition, copyright 1993 and 1989 by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the U.S.A. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Quotations from the Spiritual Exercises are taken from George E. Ganss, trans., The Spiritual Exercises of Saint Ignatius: A Translation and Commentary (St. Louis: Institute of Jesuit Sources, 1992). Used with permission of the Institute of Jesuit Sources.

Cover illustration Betelgejze/Shutterstock, cover texture, tusumaru, iStock, Thinkstock.

eBook ISBN: 978-0-8294-4243-4

Based on the print edition: 978-0-8294-4242-7

Library of Congress Control Number: 2014954342

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Dear Reader:

Thanks for picking up this little booklet. I hope it leads you into a closer relationship with God. The readings for each day of Lent are taken, for the most part, from A Friendship Like No Other, in which I converse with a reader about Gods desire for our friendship. I am convinced that God wants a deep personal relationship with each one of us, and I hope that my book will lead many people to engage in such a personal and intimate relationship with God. For each day of Lent you will read a citation adapted from A Friendship Like No Other along with a question for prayer and/or reflection. I am delighted with the way Joseph Durepos of Loyola Press has arranged these citations for our Lenten journey.

Lent is a great time to give God a chance to convince you of his desire for your friendship. Traditionally Lent has been a time of engaging in practices of penance or prayer that will ready us to experience, more and more deeply, the almost unbelievable love and generosity of God toward us wayward human beings. I hope you will make the reading and prayer of this booklet a part of your Lenten journey this year. The really nice thing about this practice is that it will not take a great deal of time from your busy day. But you will, I hope, find it enriching to spend a few minutes each day reading the citation and communicating with God about your reactions to the days reflection. If you do this regularly, I can promise you that on Easter Sunday you will be on more friendly terms with GodFather, Son, and Holy Spirit.

William A. Barry, SJ

Friendship with God

I maintain that Godout of the abundance of divine relational life, not any need for usdesires humans into existence for the sake of friendship. This thesis may sound strange, because it runs counter to much teaching about God. To be honest, I questioned it myself when I first began to think it through. But over the years, as my own relationship with God has deepened and I have listened to people talk about how God relates to them, I have become convinced that the best analogy for the relationship God wants with us is friendship.

As I begin my Lenten journey, I pray to understand what it means for my life that God wants to be friends with me.

Embracing the Notion of Friendship with God

This notion of friendship with God seems to have waxed and waned throughout history. It is possible that preachers and teachers of religion fear that embracing the idea of friendship with God may lead to effacing the mystery and awesomeness of God, and so they hesitate to talk about it. But I am convinced that this is an idea whose time has come, and none too soon for the future of our world. Many people I have met seem drawn by the notion of friendship with God. For another, friendship with God leads to a wider and wider circle of friends as we realize that Gods desire for friendship includes all people.

How does the idea that God desires to be in friendship with all people change my idea of God? How does it change the way I interact with the people in my life?

Overcoming Our Fear of God

The psalmist writes: The fear of the L ORD is the beginning of wisdom (Psalm 111:10). But the fear of the L ORD extolled in the psalm is a far cry from the fear instilled by religious teaching, which leads people to keep their distance from God. The psalms surely were not written to keep people far from God, but just as bad news sells better than good, so too, hellfire and brimstone make for more compelling teaching and preaching. But I believe that God is shortchanged by such teaching and preaching tactics, and so are we.

If Im honest with myself, do I find that I fear God? How does this fear affect my relationship with God?

The Beginning of Wisdom

The fear of the L ORD that is the beginning of wisdom is a healthy realization of Gods awesomeness. God is fascinating and awe-inspiring, even terrifying. But suppose for a moment that God, who is Mystery itselfawesome, terrible, and unknowablewants our friendship. Then the beginning of wisdom might be an acceptance of Gods offer, even though accepting it proves to be daunting, challenging, and even a bit frightening.

Am I ready to accept the Divine Mysterys offer of friendship?

The Meaning of Friendship

It might help your reflection on friendship with God to think about your friendships with others. Who are your friends? What makes you say that they are your friends? You tell them things about yourself that you would not tell a stranger. You know that they will not tell others the secrets you share with them, that they will not hold against you what you tell them or hold it over your head as a threat. At the deepest level, you trust that they will remain your friends even when they know some of the less savory aspects of your past life and your character. You also trust that they will stick with you through thick and thin, through good times and tough times. And at least some of these characteristics will also be true of the relationship God wants with you.