With friends: the fourth Sunday in Lent

Over the past weeks, we've explored silence, fasting and fixed hour prayer as ways to bring our attention to God, to become more available to God's transformative action in our lives. Encounters with God in solitude bring with them precious gifts.

Still, spiritual transformation is not a solo event. We all need friends to encourage, support and speak the truth to us. Without their authentic voices, we may never see who we are. The discipline of walking the spiritual journey in the company of others is at the heart of Jesus' model for discipleship. What role have others played in your own life? Tell us your story. Comment below!

Christ in Community: insight from Dietrich Bonhoeffer

"God has put this Word into the mouth of others in order that it may be communicated to us. When one person is struck by the Word, he speaks it to others. God has willed that we should seek and find his living Word in the witness of a brother, in the mouth of a man. Therefore, the Christian needs another Christian who speaks God's Word to him. He needs again and again when he becomes uncertain and discouraged, for by himself he cannot help himself without belying the truth.

He needs a brother as a bearer and proclaimer of the divine word of salvation. He needs his brother solely because of Jesus Christ. The Christ in his own heart is weaker than the Christ in the word of his brother; his own heart is uncertain; his brother's is sure." Life Together