Book Reviews and More: Daybreaks: Daily Reflections for Lent and Easter

Daybreaks:

Daily Reflections for Lent and Easter

Amy Welborn

Liguori Publications

ISBN 9780764826870

eISBN 9780764870996

ASIN B01N4QF53K

Daybreaks: Daily Reflections for Lent and Easter - Amy Welborn

This past Advent I read two devotional from the pen of Welborn intended for families and both were excellent. The first; Wonders of His Love Family Devotions and Activities for Advent, was a new read. The other was a reread Prepare Him Room: Advent Family Devotions, which I had a read a decade earlier but had not reviewed. This year Welborn promoted two volumes for Lent:

With Your Whole Heart: Family Devotions and Activities for Lent

No Greater Love Stations of the Cross for Young People

While looking into them I also discovered I had read Daybreaks: Daily Reflections for Lent and Easter, 9 years ago but had not reviewed it. So I read both volumes over a few days in order to review them and promote them for Lent this year.

I decided to reread this volume for two reasons. The first it was by Amy Welborn and I have loved everything I have read from her masterful pen, including this title when I first read it 9 years ago. And the second I was looking for a few new books for Lent reading in 2026 I picked it up a month before Lent with the plan of reading the whole volume, then rereading it over Lent. It is a wonderful little volume with clear concise reflections; it is theologically sound, and very moving.

The description of this volume is:

“Jesus and Mary, from the crib to the cross. We started Advent with eager anticipation for Christmas, but we begin Lent with, perhaps, a bit more reluctance. Giving things up is inconvenient. Taking time for prayer interferes with an already busy schedule. Putting Jesus first means other things must be let go. This Lent and Easter season, author Amy Welborn shares her own struggles and triumphs of trying to live Lent and Easter spirituality year-round. She shares how small moments of frustration can turn into small lessons of grace. We carry our own crosses alongside Jesus this season. But as we drop worldly concerns to pick up our cross, we may realize our burden has actually been lightened.”

I worked through the digital edition of the book, and I I found evidence of older physical booklets editions. But the eBook is available readily. The chapters in the volume are:

Ash Wednesday

Thursday After Ash Wednesday

Friday After Ash Wednesday

Saturday After Ash Wednesday

First Sunday of Lent

First Week of lent Monday

First Week of Lent Tuesday

First Week of Lent Wednesday

First Week of Lent Thursday

First Week of Lent Friday

First Week of Lent Saturday

Second Sunday of Lent

Second Week of Lent Monday

Second Week of Lent Tuesday

Second Week of Lent Wednesday

Second Week of Lent Thursday

Second Week of Lent Friday

Second Week of Lent Saturday

Third Sunday of Lent

Third Week of Lent Monday

Third Week of Lent Tuesday

Third Week of Lent Wednesday

Third Week of Lent Thursday

Third Week of Lent Friday

Third Week of Lent Saturday

Fourth Sunday of Lent

Fourth Week of Lent Monday

Fourth Week of Lent Tuesday

Fourth Week of Lent Wednesday

Fourth Week of Lent Thursday

Fourth Week of Lent Friday

Fourth Week of Lent Saturday

Fifth Sunday of Lent

Fifth Week of Lent Monday

Fifth Week of Lent Tuesday

Fifth Week of Lent Wednesday

Fifth Week of Lent Thursday

Fifth Week of Lent Friday

Fifth Week of Lent Saturday

Palm Sunday

Monday of Holy Week

Tuesday of Holy Week

Wednesday of Holy Week

Holy Thursday

Good Friday

Holy Saturday

Easter

Easter Monday

Tuesday, Octave of Easter

Wednesday, Octave of Easter

Thursday, Octave of Easter

Friday, Octave of Easter

Saturday, Octave of Easter

Second Sunday of Easter

Each week follows the same format, with reflections for each day, a Pray Together each day and a Grow Together section each week and a reminder to check in on it part way through the week. A sample day is:

“Ash Wednesday

Years ago—years—friends cajoled me into attending an Eagles concert in Tampa.

As the date approached, I realized when it would be happening: Ash Wednesday.

Predictably, I was seized with guilt. Me, a long-standing and—dare I say—prideful Lenten rigorist, a firm critic, for example, of my mother’s habits of serving expensive cuts of fish or dining out on Fridays while I humbly dished out beans or macaroni and cheese to my own family, here I was at a pop concert.

Guilt mixed with something else that night—judgment—while I waited around outside the venue and watched a parade of lithe, tall, gorgeous young women climb out of limos. A surprising number of them had crosses smudged on their foreheads. Did those models realize how lucky they were to be on the receiving end of double judgment? They were evidently doing Ash Wednesday with even more panache and high style than I was but also without an ounce of shame, parading the dichotomy in front of the whole world, with me, on my high horse, remembering the Gospel:

“Take care not to perform righteous deeds in order that people may see them . . .” (Matthew 6:1).

Lent seems fairly straightforward, but Ash Wednesday’s Scripture readings reflect a tension. Joel calls God’s people to a fast. It’s a loud, urgent public call for the entire people to embark on a public penitential walk.

But then Jesus seems to tell us something different. That fast? Do it in secret. Wash your face. Smile. Pray in private. Don’t let anyone know what you’re doing. God knows. That’s enough.

It’s a dilemma we face when we pause at the church door after Mass on Ash Wednesday. We have that cross smudged on our foreheads. Our ashes witness to our sinfulness and our trust in God’s mercy. It’s good for us to publicly admit it, good for the world to see.

But Jesus says what he says, and so my hand reaches up to my forehead, tissue in hand. Do I wipe it off? Should it stay?

Wherever I find myself at Lent’s beginning these days, my first step is to accept that tension. I live in the world. The world needs Jesus. We are his witnesses. But Jesus tells me, repent, witness, pray, and give while fasting from the most deadly thing of all: pride.

Yet even now—oracle of the LORD—return to me with your whole heart, with fasting, weeping, and mourning. Rend your hearts, not your garments, and return to the LORD, your God.

JOEL 2:12–13”

I highlighted a number of sections my first time through this volume, and about another half dozen my second time through, some of them are:

“Some of us love Lent, others hate it. But, love or hate, here we are, celebrations tumbling into Ash Wednesday, feast giving way to fast.”

“For forty days we will fast more, give more, and pray more. Our motivations vary. We are sorry for our sins and our stubbornness in sin. Our sacrifices become acts of penance. We give God’s will more room to flourish by denying ourselves. We clarify. We prune. We focus. We realize how much we have crowded God out with silly, wasteful, or selfish things. Most of all, we seek to be like Jesus, to take up a cross.”

“Lent seems fairly straightforward, but Ash Wednesday’s Scripture readings reflect a tension. Joel calls God’s people to a fast. It’s a loud, urgent public call for the entire people to embark on a public penitential walk. But then Jesus seems to tell us something different. That fast? Do it in secret. Wash your face. Smile. Pray in private. Don’t let anyone know what you’re doing. God knows. That’s enough.”

“Wherever I find myself at Lent’s beginning these days, my first step is to accept that tension. I live in the world. The world needs Jesus. We are his witnesses. But Jesus tells me, repent, witness, pray, and give while fasting from the most deadly thing of all: pride.”

““That’s smart,” I thought. How often do we talk to each other, assume we’re noted and understood but aren’t?”

“How many times does God speak to me and I let the words drift around my heart but don’t actually hear them?”

“I am invited to enter more deeply into Jesus’ journey during Lent. This is a journey deep into our human life. It began in the Incarnation, but now I see what “Word made flesh” really means. The flesh suffers, dies, and finally rises.”

“No one likes to be sick, but as the saints remind us, illness can be an opportunity for spiritual growth. I know that for me, even a minor illness gives me a chance to grow in empathy and to offer my tiny bit of discomfort for those truly suffering.”

“A quick check of my life from the outside indicates everything is just fine. But in Lent’s focused, quiet space, distant from the cacophony of the daily storms, what do I hear? What is hidden and dripping steadily? What hints did I ignore? Now is the time to tend to that weakness so I don’t cause more damage but flourish with God’s life instead.”

“Such mysteries lie in all of our histories. If we looked at every step that led to our current lives, we would see a confusing tapestry of good and horrible decisions. Accidents that brought us to this moment. Here we are, existing because of the strange things that happened to other people and ourselves.”

“For this reason, I welcome the focused spiritual practices of Lent. This more intentional praying, fasting, and giving gives me an opportunity to root out habits of avoidance and return to the Father’s loving embrace.”

“Like Naaman, our expectations of what God’s activity should look like can be off. The first problem is right up front: We have expectations. We look for emotional highs during private prayer or Mass. Or we disdain simple prayers in favor of complicated programs or spiritual systems.”

“My life is supposed to be like that. What my own eyes have seen is the mercy of God, hope for sinners, and the promise of eternal life. My call is to remember and to witness to that mercy in inviting, welcoming, and loving ways. To remember, to live, to stand witness.”

“In fact, putting my hope for joy in things can distract me from God’s love. God invites me to use the power of my hands, not to serve my own pleasure and existential anxiety, but to serve all those in need with gracious freedom and compassion.”

“Questions. I’ve grown from asking them and being asked. I’m asked, I ask, and in the midst of all the questions, I finally begin to see.”

“As various wise people have said, don’t judge my faith by how I act—I might even be worse without that faith.”

“Dealing with other human beings can be a chore, but if I can push back my self-centeredness and open my eyes, I can see signs. Signs of pain, hurt, loss, and concern. Jesus’ journey to the cross is one of patience, understanding, forgiveness, and of bearing burdens. Joining him on that journey, I see that my call is to look at others, not as problems or irritating objects, but as brothers and sisters giving me signs of the burdens they bear.”

“I pause. I listen humbly, not presuming anything. I welcome that startled disorientation, not as an end, but as the beginning of something more.”

“I have no doubt that Jesus, through the prayers his body offered for healing—consoled us in a real way. For that reason, when I’m asked to pray for someone, I always, always stop and do so. Every prayer, every little sacrifice is a step with him to console, gladden, and transform mourning into joy.”

“Today I continue the journey begun weeks ago, deepened on Palm Sunday and intensified through this Triduum. I may not be in Jerusalem, but wherever I am, in prayer with my brothers and sisters, I walk with Jesus. In this space I encounter this true sacrifice. I am moved by the humility of God and stripped of all the world offers. I walk. We walk on that path, in his footsteps, past and present erased in the eternal now of love.”

“Today has five names. It is the Octave of Easter, the Second Sunday of Easter, and Divine Mercy Sunday. Before the reforms of the Second Vatican Council, it was known as Low Sunday to indicate that it was the end of the eight days and that Easter had been duly celebrated and now it was time to bring the celebrating down a few degrees. Before Vatican II, it was also known as Sunday in White to indicate that this was the last day those who had been baptized during the Easter Vigil wore their white baptismal garment.”

I hope that sample day and those quotes give you a feel for this volume. This was a book I am very thankful I have worked through and look forward to reading it again during Lent. I really appreciated many of the reflections and almost all the prayers at the ends of specific days. The first quote I highlighted this time though was:

“Some of us love Lent, others hate it. But, love or hate, here we are, celebrations tumbling into Ash Wednesday, feast giving way to fast.”

It really got me thinking about I Don't Like Lent by Rev Daniel A. Lord S.J., which I am going to have to reread now as well. It should also be noted there is a companion Daybreaks Advent volume but it appears it has never been released as an eBook. I enjoyed this so much when I read it in 2017 I posted 2 of the reflections at the time:

Ash Wednesday Reflection

Second Sunday Of Easter Reflection

Maybe that is why I did not get around to reviewing it. That being said, this is an excellent Lenten resource, a great volume. I can easily recommend it. This is a wonderful volume that will inspire and challenge. I encourage you to pick it up and give it a try!

Note: This book is part of a series of reviews: 2026 Catholic Reading Plan!

Books by Amy Welborn: