March 30

Isaiah 42:1 – 9

Link to Bible verse: Isaiah 42

Integration: the healing journey of integrating the 7 pillars of Benedictine spirituality

“I, the Lord, have called you in righteousness;
    I will take hold of your hand.
I will keep you and will make you
    to be a covenant for the people
    and a light for the Gentiles,
to open eyes that are blind,
    to free captives from prison
    and to release from the dungeon those who sit in darkness.”

An important dimension of the Way of Christ, of the integrative journey toward healing, is that it has to be both internal and external. This passage from Isaiah helps illustrate that. God promises to accompany us—to hold our hands—while we open eyes, free captives, and release those in darkness. Being held by God is an invitation to our own transformation. If we don’t allow ourselves to be accompanied by Love, the work we do with others in the world is still worthwhile, but that work is likely limited by our own blindness and imprisonment.

Having previously done the work while being led by my ego and my own vision, I can attest to the difference of the work when we welcome Divine Love into the process, when we allow ourselves to be transformed by God. Allowing God to hold my hand has brought lightness and humility to my work. It has allowed me to open up to the internal healing work that leads toward gratitude, humility, and joy. We don’t have to do the healing journey alone. Let me rephrase that: I don’t think I can do the healing journey without Divine Love.

Thank you to Linda Land-Closson for writing our 2026 Lenten Devotions.