For many, the next forty days is a deeply personal time of reflection and prayer, of alms-giving and fasting.

Last December, during our visit to the Jesuit Mission in Chiapas, Mexico, we spent time with Fr. Conrado Zepeda, SJ, who shared with us his reflections for the second week of Advent. Conrado's reflections were moving and tender, inviting us to places of quiet reflection.

In the spirit of Conrado's Advent reflections, we are offering reflections for Lent, written by the people who recently returned from visiting Chiapas, by some of the lay and religious staff of the Jesuit Mission there, and by some of the parishioners at St. Therese Parish in Seattle, the Sister Parish of the Jesuit Mission.

The reflections are offered each Wednesday, Friday and Sunday in Lent, beginning today on Ash Wednesday with a reflection written by Jesuit Father Eugenio Maurer, who has lived and worked among the Tseltal People of Chiapas for many years.

May this Lenten Season be a time to open our hearts to each other and to the Earth, so that we may hear the call to act justly, love tenderly and walk humbly with our God. (Micah 6:8).