This whole Lenten journey has a been about identity. In this journey, we again receive the gift of who we are as sons and daughters of God and every other identity along the way. But this identity pilgrimage will not make sense without the resurrection. Life will be incomprehensible if it’s just suffering and brokenness.

Life of prayer is worth going “all-in” on. In this mystical identity, there’s an invitation to let go of ourselves. Prayer is not authentic if we are stuck or focused on ourselves. Prayer changes as we let go of our own notion of what it should be. We are constantly invited for our hearts to be attentive and open to become mystics — to become men and women of prayer. It anchors us in the reality that we are made for relationship, we’re made for prayer, and we are made to live in intimacy with God every single day of our lives.

We come in as sons and daughters, then we graduate from sonship and daughtership. When we fall in love and receive the gift of the beloved, we have this deep desire to bear fruit and to let this love overflow. In this love, sons and daughters become spouses and from there we mature to become mothers and fathers. What we want is to live with the Father’s heart — to give unselfish and sacrificial love. It is definitely not easy. But we are invited to become fathers and mothers after the heart of God.

The world is a crazy place. There’s always the temptation to hide, run away or to fear Love. There are distractions and lies—the lie that we cannot do it, that we may lose ourselves, that our love won’t be reciprocated. But we are made to be in love. First and foremost with the Lord, Jesus the bridegroom, who comes to save, to love, and to die for us, His bride. And from this love we are called to lay down our lives and give ourselves fully for a bride or bridegroom.