Your Face Lord, Do I Seek - Daily Lenten Meditations

Throughout the 2024 Lenten season, Immaculate Conception Seminary School of Theology (ICSST) was pleased to present a series of daily reflections inspired by Psalm 27:8, titled “Your Face Lord, Do I Seek”. The reflections helped participants enter more deeply into the Lenten season by focusing attention on the gaze of Christ in powerful ways, contemplating how He beckons us to draw close and experience His great love.

Through reflections authored by Rev. Msgr. Gerard H. McCarren, S.T.D rector/dean and Dianne M. Traflet, J.D., S.T.D, associate dean for Graduate Studies and Administration and Assistant Professor of Pastoral Theology, and Rev. Msgr. Joseph R. Reilly, S.T.L., Ph.D., vice provost for Academics and Catholic Identity and incoming president of Seton Hall University.

Since 2019, ICSST has offered reflection series during the Advent and Lenten seasons, uniting in prayer during these key liturgical seasons more than 2,500 Seton Hall students, faculty, staff, administrators and other community members from near and far.

The 2024 Lent series began on Ash Wednesday, February 14, and continued through Holy Thursday, March 28. We invite you to join us on this Lenten reflection journey, by navigating the images and their corresponding reflections below.

About the Authors

Msgr. Gerard H. McCarren, S.T.D.
Rector/Dean, and Associate Professor of Systematic Theology
Monsignor McCarren earned a B.A. from Yale University with majors in History and in Philosophy (Psychology track), an M.Div. from Immaculate Conception Seminary School of Theology, and an S.T.L. and an S.T.D. in Systematic Theology from The Catholic University of America. Monsignor McCarren is particularly interested in the life and works of Saint John Henry Newman, serving as a board member emeritus of the Newman Association of America’s board of directors. In addition to teaching in the areas of Liturgy and Sacraments and having served as Spiritual Director at ICSST, Monsignor McCarren has taught and provided spiritual direction for the summer seminarian program of the Institute for Priestly Formation, Omaha, NE.

Rev. Msgr. Joseph Reilly, S.T.L., Ph.D.,
Vice Provost for Academics and Catholic Identity; Incoming President, Seton Hall University
Monsignor Reilly holds a Bachelor of Sacred Theology from Pontifical Gregorian University, Rome, a licentiate in Sacred Theology (STL) from Pontificio Istituto Teresianum, Rome, and a Ph.D. in Educational Administration from Fordham University. He has served as a member of the Archdiocesan Priest Personnel Board, the Advisory Committee on Continuing Education and Ongoing Formation of Priests, the Archdiocesan Vocations Board, and the Board of Trustees of Seton Hall University. Pope John Paul II named him a Chaplain to His Holiness in 2005, with the title of Reverend Monsignor. In 2016 during the Holy Year of Mercy, the Pontifical Council for Promoting New Evangelization sought priests who were living signs "of the Father's welcome to all those in search of His forgiveness." He was the only priest from the Archdiocese of Newark formally commissioned as a Missionary of Mercy by Pope Francis.

Dianne M. Traflet, J.D., S.T.D.,
Associate Dean for Graduate Studies and Administration and Assistant Professor of Pastoral Theology
Dianne M. Traflet earned a J.D. from Seton Hall University School of Law, an M.A. in Catholic Theology and Pastoral Ministry from The Institute of Advanced Studies of Catholic Doctrine, St. John's University, and an S.T.L. and an S.T.D. from the Pontifical University of St. Thomas Aquinas (The Angelicum), Rome. Traflet is a key leader in the Center for Diaconal Formation, and she gives numerous lectures, retreats, and days of recollection, including some specific to wives of deacons and deacon candidates. She is the author of Edith Stein: A Spiritual Portrait (Pauline Media, 2008).

Your Face Lord, Do I Seek - Daily Lenten Meditations

About the Authors

Graduate Programs

Graduate Course Offerings