in the Wilderness: the fifth Sunday of Lent

We know by a kind of instinct that peace lies in the heart of darkness --in the wilderness of soul. Something prompts us to keep still, to trust in God, to be quiet and to listen for God’s voice.

Thomas Merton, New Seeds of Contemplation.

Almighty God,
whose Son Jesus Christ fasted forty days in the wilderness,
and was tempted as we are, yet without sin:
give us grace to discipline ourselves in obedience to your Spirit;
and, as you know our weakness,
so may we know your power to save;
through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord,
who is alive and reigns with you,
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever.