Lenten campaign 2026
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Have you ever wondered what it must have been like to witness the Passion, death, and Resurrection of Jesus? Would you have gone along with the crowds — or stood apart from them? Would you have acted like Joseph of Arimathea, risking your life to ask for the body of Jesus? Or like John, the Beloved Disciple, who remained by Mary’s side to the very end?
It’s hard to know. But we can look back on the lives of those who were there and learn from them — from their doubts and failures of faith as well as from their courage, compassion, and humility. And if we’re honest, we can find pieces of ourselves in every one of them.
Fr. Patrick Mary Briscoe, OP, writes in Witness:
“The Passion is more than a historical account — it’s a mirror. In its scenes, we see our own faith tested, our own love revealed, our own hearts laid bare before God. Drawing from the Church’s rich tradition, we can imagine what may or might have been and freely examine our own hearts. And in every encounter, we find the same Lord who turned doubters into disciples and sinners into saints still at work in the human soul.”
This Lent, we are invited to step into those scenes and meet the people who encountered Christ in his Passion. What do they teach us? How is God drawing us closer to himself through their stories? And how do they challenge us to deeper faith?
Mary Magdalene
When we first meet Mary Magdalene, we learn that she had been healed of seven demons. We don’t know what those demons were. We might imagine them as fear, woundedness, bitterness, pride, or self-loathing. Whatever their nature, the point is this: Jesus freed her by breaking their power over her, and her heart overflowed with love for him.
This is how she is remembered in the Gospels — not for the demons that once ruled her life, but for her devotion to Christ. Lent invites us into that same encounter: to allow Christ to love us into freedom, to let him drive out what holds us back and fill that space with his grace. Christ alone has the power to free us from what we cannot master on our own.
Pontius Pilate
The question that gnawed at Pilate — and perhaps kept him awake at night — was, “Who is this man, Jesus?” Even amid his doubts and the pressure of the authorities, Pilate recognized something unsettling and true: Jesus was the King of the Jews.
Who is Jesus in our own lives? We profess that Christ is King, but do we live as though that is true? Or do we hesitate to let him fully reign in our hearts, especially when doing so might cost us comfort, control, or approval? Lent calls us to answer this question not merely with our words, but with the totality of our lives.
The Crowd
We first encounter the crowds on Palm Sunday, welcoming Jesus as king and deliverer, crying out, “Hosanna in the highest!” Just days later, they shout, “Crucify him! Crucify him!” What changed? How could they turn so quickly?
Disappointment. Fear. Pressure from those in power. The pull of the crowd.
Lent invites us to recognize ourselves here. It’s easy to follow Jesus when life is good and expectations are met. It’s far harder when following him leads us to the cross — into difficulty, confusion, resentment, and fear. Discipleship becomes most challenging when it costs us something.
Mary, Mother of Jesus
In stark contrast to the crowds stands Mary. From the beginning, she remained with Christ — in Bethlehem, in Nazareth as he grew in wisdom and grace, throughout his public ministry, and finally at the foot of the Cross, when the crowds turned away and the disciples fled.
Her discipleship was not built on comfort, certainty, or control. It was built on trust — quiet, confident, and enduring. As Briscoe writes, “Mary stood by — and still she stands. For all who grieve, for all who remain in love when love costs everything, she is there. At the foot of the Cross, her fiat becomes a beacon. She teaches us that to stand by Christ is also to stand by all who suffer, to love when nothing makes sense, and to remain, even when the only word left is why.”
Mary inspires us to draw near to the heart of Christ so that we can be him to others — helping to carry the crosses of those who suffer in our families, parishes, neighborhoods, and nation.
John, the Beloved Disciple
Finally, we come to John, the Beloved Disciple — the one who reclined close to Jesus at the Last Supper and rested his head against Jesus’s heart (Jn 13:23). This Lent, we are invited to become the Beloved Disciple: to draw near to Jesus in prayer, in the Eucharist, and through fasting and almsgiving.
We are invited to rest on his heart with complete confidence that we are loved, forgiven, and chosen—and to trust that his love will lead us through darkness and suffering into a life of freedom, grace, love, and joy.
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For more reflections like these, explore Witness: A Guided Lent Journal for Prayer and Meditation by Fr. Patrick Mary Briscoe, OP, from Ave Maria Press.
