The Spiritual Meaning of Lent: Lenten Conference #1

Fr. Hugh Gillespie, SMM

Note: This audio is the first Friday conference within the Lenten Season.

The Spiritual Meaning of Lent: Lenten Conference #1

Psalm 95 and Psalm 51: The Foundations of Lent’s Spiritual Journey

During each Friday of the Lenten Season, there will be a Lenten Devotional Conference.

This is the first week within this series. Each conference will appear singularly on the Website, SoundCloud, Facebook and iPod platforms. All conferences will also appear within this post.

This first conference reflects on Psalm 95 and Psalm 51, emphasizing their significance in the season of Lent and the life of the Church. Psalm 95 is a daily call to praise, worship, and recognize God’s sovereignty, but it also warns against hardening one’s heart, as the Israelites did in the wilderness. It highlights the necessity of listening to God’s voice today, not delaying obedience.

During Lent, the Church abstains from saying “Hallelujah” as a symbolic act of preparation, reinforcing that true praise must come from a purified heart. The conference also discusses Psalm 51, a penitential psalm of King David after his sin with Bathsheba, stressing the importance of compunction—a deep sorrow for sin that moves one toward true repentance. Lent, therefore, is not merely about resisting temptation but about allowing God to transform the heart so that one can truly praise Him with sincerity and purity.

Listen to this first devotional Lenten Conference and let it transform your heart. Join us virtually (or physically each week for additional Lenten conferences.

Listen to:

The Spiritual Meaning of Lent

It begins as a call of praise. And so, note that the first thing the church says every day is to lift up the voice and give praise to God. And we pause at that moment, this command to praise the Lord. The word that we don’t use during Lent, which I’m going to use now simply to say it so that we’re all on the same page, is hallelujah.

It is the great cry of Easter victory, and it literally means praise the Lord. And so, note in a sense, there is this command to lift up the voice celebrating the great things God has done with a fullness of praise. And yet during Lent, we don’t use that word, which expresses and communicates praise in its utter fullness. Hear more within the conference.

Christ of St. John of The Cross: Spanish Painter: Salvador Dalí: 1951

The painting is known as the Christ of Saint John of the Cross, because its design is based on a drawing by the 16th-century Spanish friar John of the Cross. Note: This is a low-resolution picture for copyright purposes.

Note:

This marks the First Friday of the current Lenten Season, featuring special formation conferences covering a range of seasonal topics. Select the Friday Lenten Season Link below to see all conferences captured to date.