{"id":8020,"date":"2026-02-23T21:42:10","date_gmt":"2026-02-23T21:42:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.stmatthewtn.org\/church\/?p=8020"},"modified":"2026-04-07T13:50:01","modified_gmt":"2026-04-07T13:50:01","slug":"lenten-reflections-2026","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.stmatthewtn.org\/church\/2026\/02\/23\/lenten-reflections-2026\/","title":{"rendered":"Lenten Reflections"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"fusion-fullwidth fullwidth-box fusion-builder-row-1 fusion-flex-container has-pattern-background has-mask-background nonhundred-percent-fullwidth non-hundred-percent-height-scrolling\" style=\"--awb-border-radius-top-left:0px;--awb-border-radius-top-right:0px;--awb-border-radius-bottom-right:0px;--awb-border-radius-bottom-left:0px;--awb-flex-wrap:wrap;\" ><div class=\"fusion-builder-row fusion-row fusion-flex-align-items-flex-start fusion-flex-content-wrap\" style=\"max-width:1144px;margin-left: calc(-4% \/ 2 );margin-right: calc(-4% \/ 2 );\"><div class=\"fusion-layout-column fusion_builder_column fusion-builder-column-0 fusion_builder_column_1_1 1_1 fusion-flex-column\" style=\"--awb-bg-size:cover;--awb-width-large:100%;--awb-margin-top-large:0px;--awb-spacing-right-large:1.92%;--awb-margin-bottom-large:20px;--awb-spacing-left-large:1.92%;--awb-width-medium:100%;--awb-order-medium:0;--awb-spacing-right-medium:1.92%;--awb-spacing-left-medium:1.92%;--awb-width-small:100%;--awb-order-small:0;--awb-spacing-right-small:1.92%;--awb-spacing-left-small:1.92%;\"><div class=\"fusion-column-wrapper fusion-column-has-shadow fusion-flex-justify-content-flex-start fusion-content-layout-column\"><div class=\"fusion-text fusion-text-1\"><h2>Lenten Video Reflection Series<\/h2>\n<p data-start=\"110\" data-end=\"370\">This Lent, Saint Matthew is again offering a weekly video reflection series to accompany the <em data-start=\"197\" data-end=\"203\">Crux<\/em> books available to parishioners. Each week, a new reflection will be released that highlights and expands upon one of the key themes featured in that week\u2019s readings.<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"372\" data-end=\"690\">These brief reflections are designed to help you go deeper\u2014connecting prayer, Scripture, and daily life as we journey together toward Easter. Whether you are reading <em data-start=\"538\" data-end=\"544\">Crux<\/em> on your own, with your family, or in a small group, these videos will provide encouragement and practical insight for living Lent with intention.<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"372\" data-end=\"690\">Follow along with this Lent with the videos below.<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"372\" data-end=\"690\">To learn more about the Crux series from Ascension, <a href=\"https:\/\/ascensionpress.com\/pages\/crux?srsltid=AfmBOorTXIvlzJErGMlQRl7F_BR2Ht0muveA_xW6HN9wmuSQin28tIXD\">click here.<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div><div class=\"fusion-separator fusion-full-width-sep\" style=\"align-self: center;margin-left: auto;margin-right: auto;width:100%;\"><div class=\"fusion-separator-border sep-double\" style=\"--awb-height:20px;--awb-amount:20px;border-color:#eff3f9;border-top-width:1px;border-bottom-width:1px;\"><\/div><\/div><div class=\"fusion-text fusion-text-2\"><p><strong>Week 6: Suffering (Holy Week)<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Father Raines leads this week&#8217;s Lenten Reflection as we enter Holy Week. He explores how the Lord\u2019s passion and suffering are filled with His great love for us, how we can unite our suffering to His, and how God can use our suffering for the greater good.<\/p>\n<\/div><div class=\"fusion-video fusion-youtube\" style=\"--awb-max-width:600px;--awb-max-height:360px;\"><div class=\"video-shortcode\"><div class=\"fluid-width-video-wrapper\" style=\"padding-top:60%;\" ><iframe title=\"YouTube video player 1\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/c_34YKnOOoY?wmode=transparent&autoplay=0\" width=\"600\" height=\"360\" allowfullscreen allow=\"autoplay; fullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/div><\/div><\/div><div class=\"fusion-separator fusion-full-width-sep\" style=\"align-self: center;margin-left: auto;margin-right: auto;width:100%;\"><div class=\"fusion-separator-border sep-double\" style=\"--awb-height:20px;--awb-amount:20px;border-color:#eff3f9;border-top-width:1px;border-bottom-width:1px;\"><\/div><\/div><div class=\"fusion-text fusion-text-3\"><p><strong>Week 5: Perseverance<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>This week&#8217;s Lenten video reflection is led by Father Tran. He focuses on perseverance, particularly with perseverance through prayer. Highlighted by the example of Saint Monica perseverance in praying for her son&#8217;s conversion (Saint Augustine), Father Tran also shares where you can find God and how he responds to that question when asked by a student.<\/p>\n<\/div><div class=\"fusion-video fusion-youtube\" style=\"--awb-max-width:600px;--awb-max-height:360px;\"><div class=\"video-shortcode\"><div class=\"fluid-width-video-wrapper\" style=\"padding-top:60%;\" ><iframe title=\"YouTube video player 2\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/9Yu68AzME6M?wmode=transparent&autoplay=0\" width=\"600\" height=\"360\" allowfullscreen allow=\"autoplay; fullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/div><\/div><\/div><div class=\"fusion-separator fusion-full-width-sep\" style=\"align-self: center;margin-left: auto;margin-right: auto;width:100%;\"><div class=\"fusion-separator-border sep-double\" style=\"--awb-height:20px;--awb-amount:20px;border-color:#eff3f9;border-top-width:1px;border-bottom-width:1px;\"><\/div><\/div><div class=\"fusion-text fusion-text-4\"><p><strong>Week 4: Sight<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Having crossed the midpoint of Lent, are you taking the time to see Christ? What does putting our sight on God even look like? Szymon Sierzega, a seminarian with the Diocese of Nashville, walks us through this important skill as we strive to love like Jesus.<\/p>\n<\/div><div class=\"fusion-video fusion-youtube\" style=\"--awb-max-width:600px;--awb-max-height:360px;\"><div class=\"video-shortcode\"><div class=\"fluid-width-video-wrapper\" style=\"padding-top:60%;\" ><iframe title=\"YouTube video player 3\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/UaSb225c-_0?wmode=transparent&autoplay=0\" width=\"600\" height=\"360\" allowfullscreen allow=\"autoplay; fullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/div><\/div><\/div><div class=\"fusion-separator fusion-full-width-sep\" style=\"align-self: center;margin-left: auto;margin-right: auto;width:100%;\"><div class=\"fusion-separator-border sep-double\" style=\"--awb-height:20px;--awb-amount:20px;border-color:#eff3f9;border-top-width:1px;border-bottom-width:1px;\"><\/div><\/div><div class=\"fusion-text fusion-text-5\"><p><strong>Week 3: Contemplation<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>What is contemplation and how do we pray in a contemplative state. Dioceses of Nashville seminarian, Jason Koenemann, explores this topic, highlighted by a story of St. John Vianney, where he was told, &#8220;I look at him, he looks at me.&#8221;<\/p>\n<\/div><div class=\"fusion-video fusion-youtube\" style=\"--awb-max-width:600px;--awb-max-height:360px;\"><div class=\"video-shortcode\"><div class=\"fluid-width-video-wrapper\" style=\"padding-top:60%;\" ><iframe title=\"YouTube video player 4\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/of8Zq-7gDeA?wmode=transparent&autoplay=0\" width=\"600\" height=\"360\" allowfullscreen allow=\"autoplay; fullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/div><\/div><\/div><div class=\"fusion-separator fusion-full-width-sep\" style=\"align-self: center;margin-left: auto;margin-right: auto;width:100%;\"><div class=\"fusion-separator-border sep-double\" style=\"--awb-height:20px;--awb-amount:20px;border-color:#eff3f9;border-top-width:1px;border-bottom-width:1px;\"><\/div><\/div><div class=\"fusion-text fusion-text-6\"><p><strong>Week 2: Resilience<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Is Lent beginning to feel like a grind? Deacon James Grossheim offers words of encouragement as we take this Lenten journey together. Discover your resilience, reliance on God, courage, and disciple in this brief reflection.<\/p>\n<\/div><div class=\"fusion-video fusion-youtube\" style=\"--awb-max-width:600px;--awb-max-height:360px;\"><div class=\"video-shortcode\"><div class=\"fluid-width-video-wrapper\" style=\"padding-top:60%;\" ><iframe title=\"YouTube video player 5\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/HGxJqreZCZ4?wmode=transparent&autoplay=0\" width=\"600\" height=\"360\" allowfullscreen allow=\"autoplay; fullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/div><\/div><\/div><div class=\"fusion-separator fusion-full-width-sep\" style=\"align-self: center;margin-left: auto;margin-right: auto;width:100%;\"><div class=\"fusion-separator-border sep-double\" style=\"--awb-height:20px;--awb-amount:20px;border-color:#eff3f9;border-top-width:1px;border-bottom-width:1px;\"><\/div><\/div><div class=\"fusion-text fusion-text-7\"><p><strong>Week 1:\u00a0 Repentance<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>As we begin this Lent, Tony Jesse, our Director of Religious Education, reflects on the call to repentance. Rooted in Christ\u2019s command to \u201cRepent and believe in the Gospel\u201d and inspired by saints like St. John of the Cross and St. John Chrysostom, this reflection explores repentance (metanoia) as a continual turning away from the old self and toward new life in Christ. Through true interior conversion, we open our hearts to God\u2019s mercy and lay the foundation for a deeper spiritual life this Lent.<\/p>\n<\/div><div class=\"fusion-video fusion-youtube\" style=\"--awb-max-width:600px;--awb-max-height:360px;\"><div class=\"video-shortcode\"><div class=\"fluid-width-video-wrapper\" style=\"padding-top:60%;\" ><iframe title=\"YouTube video player 6\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/d22h1S24W84?wmode=transparent&autoplay=0\" width=\"600\" height=\"360\" allowfullscreen allow=\"autoplay; fullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/div><\/div><\/div><div class=\"fusion-separator fusion-full-width-sep\" style=\"align-self: center;margin-left: auto;margin-right: auto;width:100%;\"><div class=\"fusion-separator-border sep-double\" style=\"--awb-height:20px;--awb-amount:20px;border-color:#eff3f9;border-top-width:1px;border-bottom-width:1px;\"><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":8021,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[607,605,604,606,79],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.stmatthewtn.org\/church\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8020"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.stmatthewtn.org\/church\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.stmatthewtn.org\/church\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.stmatthewtn.org\/church\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.stmatthewtn.org\/church\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8020"}],"version-history":[{"count":11,"href":"https:\/\/www.stmatthewtn.org\/church\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8020\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8122,"href":"https:\/\/www.stmatthewtn.org\/church\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8020\/revisions\/8122"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.stmatthewtn.org\/church\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/8021"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.stmatthewtn.org\/church\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8020"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.stmatthewtn.org\/church\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8020"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.stmatthewtn.org\/church\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8020"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}