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Part of my Lenten activities this year include reading a book called “A Lenten Journey with Jesus Christ and St. John of the Cross”, by Rev. George Mangiaracina, O.C.D. This book has a reflection for every day in Lent, which includes the Gospel, a reflection by St. John of the Cross, and a prayer. I have to admit, this hasn’t been easy for me. I am drawn to St. John of the Cross’ spirituality and am so moved by his poetry, but oftentimes the things he says are incredibly challenging. Some days, the reflection and exhortations that he gives are completely contrary to how I live.

This post actually builds on my last post where I told a story of a one armed martial arts student. You can read that story here.

If you’ve read any of the blogs I’ve posted before you might already know this, so bear with me. From June to November 2013 I lived in Burkina Faso, a small West African country nestled between Mali, Niger, Ivory Coast, and Ghana. It’s a very tiny country, the size of Colorado. It’s landlocked and as a result of that, very poor. It’s considered to be the third poorest country in the world, and the poorest country the Peace Corps serves.