“Grant me, O Lord, to see everything now with new eyes…”

So begins a personal prayer of Fr. Pedro Arrupe, SJ, who served as the Jesuit superior general from 1965 to 1983 and whose cause for sainthood was opened earlier this year.

It’s a perfect prayer for Lent, this time of spiritual renewal and preparation for Easter. How easy it is to forget that God is always with us, here and now, reaching out with love and inviting us to grow closer to him. How often we put our own selves at the center of the universe, failing to respond to or even notice the needs of the human family. How natural to get burnt-out, cynical or just plain tired.

We need a new way of seeing.

What if we could see other people, the planet and ourselves the way God does? How much more joy and peace would there be on earth?

Holy men and women like Pedro Arrupe are essential guides for us disciples, pointing the way to Jesus and encouraging us to come along. This Lenten season, as the Jesuit community continues to pray for the canonization of Pedro Arrupe, we invite you to spend some prayerful time with the words and prayers of this revered Servant of God.

Each Sunday of Lent, we will use a line or two from the day’s Scripture passages to uncover a theme, and then connect that theme to words of Arrupe’s. We’ll use videos, images and written reflections to enter into just a bit into his deep spiritual life. Because while you can learn plenty of facts about Pedro Arrupe by readings biographies or scholarly articles, you can learn something else entirely by praying with him.

Read more at http://jesuits.org/lent.