A Moment to Be Seen
“Grant Us Your Salvation” By Ritagail Burleson
A Moment to Be Seen
By Ellen Romer Niemiec
Every Lent feels a bit different. Many of my Lents over the past few years have felt sparse as my spouse and I have learned to live into what Lent looks like as we have added three children to our family. This Lent has had a noticeable if not very dramatic shift. Fasting has always been a focus and yet prayer has risen up as the thing we have felt called to. In the midst of very full lives, we have found ourselves being drawn into time with Jesus most mornings. It’s quiet, it’s simple, and we are simply able to be in that time.
I think of the woman brought before Jesus, her sins announced while those of her accusers rested just under the surface. And then, she finds herself alone with Jesus. What began as a public display has become a private moment. There is nothing left for her to hide. And in that moment, she is seen by Him. She receives the deep love that comes with being seen in your entirety: sins, gifts, hopes, dreams, and all.
I don’t know if I would describe my Lenten prayer as having the kind of moment with Jesus as we see in the Gospel. But my spouse continues to receive me, in my entirety, and helps draw me closer to Jesus. Our moments before Jesus these past weeks have been quiet, not so dramatic, but nonetheless intimate. I may have moments to come where I have to bring much more to Jesus, where my mistakes are made public and I don’t get to hide my sins under the surface. For now, I hope to continue being vulnerable, looking toward Jesus and trusting that when whatever within me is laid bare, it will be held, healed, or forgiven.
Ellen Romer Niemiec is a writer, spiritual director and higher ed professional in Chicago where she lives with her spouse and three kids. She focuses on prayer, discernment, justice and synodality.
Meet Ritagail Burleson through her Mass sketches and Beyond the Barbed Divide characters and other images, stories, paintings, sometimes music, at either Ko-fi or Substack.