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Hello! Thank you for stopping by. You’ve landed on Pilgrim Lent, Day 32. Each day is a story from the life of Christ — from when he left the wilderness to the Transfiguration.

You are invited to walk along, or just listen from your armchair if your motivation, the weather, or your body need you to simply rest instead. Up to you. Just open this newsletter on your Substack app on your phone, press play, and head out the door. You can also hit the download button and download this to your phone, and play it that way.

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Still in Jerusalem, responding to the Pharisees who had just interrogated and expelled the man born blind, Jesus gave the Good Shepherd discourse — one of the most sustained and intimate descriptions he offers of his relationship to his people.

He began with the sheepfold — a familiar image in first-century Palestine, where individual shepherds did call their own sheep by name and the sheep genuinely recognized their shepherd’s voice over others. Two I AM declarations follow: I am the gate (the entrance, the threshold, the way into safety and out to pasture) and I am the good shepherd. The word kalos means beautiful, noble, excellent — the shepherd who fulfills the role as it was meant to be, the one Ezekiel described when he prophesied against the false shepherds of Israel who scattered rather than gathered.

The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. The hired hand abandons them. And: I know my own and my own know me — just as the Father knows me and I know the Father. The mutual knowing between shepherd and sheep is placed alongside the knowing between Father and Son. That is not a small comparison. And the life he lays down, he lays down of his own accord — no one takes it from him.

Scripture: John 10:1–18 (NLT)

This week’s practices: Prayer, Fasting, and Giving

Prayer: Lord, I welcome this day exactly as it is. I release my need to control what I cannot control. I trust You with all that comes to me today. Three lines, three breaths.

Fasting: Once a week, skip a meal, if it is safe for you to do so. Or give up something meaningful if a full meal fast isn’t possible.

Giving: Set aside what you would have spent on your fasted meal, and give it at the end of the week. Ask what else you can release.

A note on fasting: Please fast only if it is safe for your health. If you have diabetes, a history of disordered eating, are pregnant or nursing, take medications that require food, or have any health condition that affects how your body handles reduced food intake, please speak with your doctor before fasting from full meals. Fasting is meant to be a spiritual gift, not a harm. If a meal fast isn’t right for you, giving up a meaningful food or drink is a full and genuine version of this discipline.

Three Journaling Questions:

Three Journaling Questions:
1. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out — and his sheep follow him because they know his voice. The knowing goes both ways. What does it mean to you that you are known by name — not as one of a crowd, but individually, specifically? And how well do you know his voice? What does it sound like when you hear it?
2. The hired hand runs when the wolf comes because the sheep are not his. The good shepherd stays because they are his and he is theirs. Where in your own life — in your relationships, your vocations, your commitments — are you the good shepherd, with genuine skin in the game? And where are you the hired hand, present but not truly invested?
3. I lay down my life of my own accord. No one takes it from me. He names the voluntary nature of what is coming. What does it mean to you that his death was not something done to him but something he chose? How does that change how you hold what is ahead on this road toward the mountain?

The Optional Companion: The Protestant Luminous Rosary

For those who find rhythm and repetition helpful in prayer, I’ve created a companion tool: The Protestant Luminous Rosary.

This is a 10-decade rosary designed specifically for this Lenten journey, using the traditional Luminous Mysteries as meditation points. It’s entirely optional — the daily devotionals stand alone and are complete without it.

But for those who want an additional layer of contemplative practice, the rosary offers:

A tactile, physical anchor for prayer (beads you can touch, count, return to)
Meditations on Jesus’ life that deepen your connection to his journey here on earth
A structure for those who find unstructured prayer difficult

You don’t need the rosary to benefit from this Lenten journey. But if you’re drawn to it, it’s here for you.

The Pilgrim Lent - Day 32

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