Saturday 4th week of Lent

 

Act of Contrition

My God, I am sorry for my sins with all my heart. In choosing to do wrong and failing to do what is good, I have sinned against You whom I should love above all things, I firmly intend, with Your help, to do penance, to sin no more, and to avoid whatever leads me to sin.

God Bless

Thursday 4th Week of Lent

 

Stiff necked people Ex. 32:7-14

An ox that was hard to control was stiff necked.

It would not turn or go in the direction needed to plow the land.

Israel was a stiff necked people.

It would not go in the direction the Lord wanted.

Instead it wanted to follow a molten calf!

How ironic!

The stiff necked people of Israel wanted to follow a stiff necked golden ox!

How willing are we to follow the Lord.

Or are we too stiff neck necked and refuse to go where the Good Lord leads us?

Wednesday 4th Week of Lent

God goes to work Jn. 5:17

What does God do all day?

Does he just sit on a cloud watching us?

The Gospel of John tells us that He is at work.

And what is His work?

God the Father's work is never done.

He is always creating.

Creating new life from the smallest creature to the infant in the womb.

Creating new planets, stars and galaxies.

Creating plants and flowers and trees;

It is a lot of work to keep the earth going let alone the universe!

God the Father is actually very busy at work.

Who like a Father goes to work,

To give the best to His children.

Tuesday 4th week of Lent

 

Water flowing from the Temple Ez. 47:1-12

Imagine turning on the faucet and no water comes out.

What would you do?

Where would you get your water?

For so many people there is no water in their soul.

For those people,

Jesus offers them life giving water;

A flood of grace that flows from the Temple of the Lord,

From the Tabernacle of the Church.

All they have to do is come to Water.

And drink freely and without cost;

And be quenched of all their desires.

Monday 4th Week of Lent

 

No more weeping Is. 65:19

Isaiah prophesied that one day there will be a New Heavens and a new Earth.

On that day the sound of weeping will no longer be heard.

Sorrow and suffering will end.

Because God will create a new heavens and a new earth.

The Past will not even be a memory

There will only be rejoicing.

So do not set your heart on the things of this world with it things that are passing away,

But on the new Heavens and the new earth

That is on the way from the Lord.

4th Sorrowful Mystery :

Jesus carries His cross to Calvary

It was not enough to come to earth

It was not enough to be Baptized

It was not enough to preach

It was not enough to feed

It was not enough to heal

It was not enough to raise the dead.

Jesus had to die on the cross.

That is why He came.

So He picked up His cross and carried it

all the way to Calvary.

Down He went;

Not once,

Not twice,

But three times.

Why did He keep getting up?

Where did He find the strength to keep going?

Love!

Because No cross is too heavy for Love.

Sin weighed Him down

But Love raised Him up.

Nothing, absolutely nothing was going to keep Jesus from dying on the cross for us.

So much did He love us.

What crosses are you carrying right now?

We all have them.

Work, family, illness whatever.

Are they carried out of Love?

If not then they will eventually crush you.

They will weigh you down until one day you can’t get up.

But if they are carried out of love

It does not matter how many times you fall,

Love will raise you up.

Like Simon of Cyrene, Love will come and help you carry it.

Life throws crosses on our back at all different times,

when we least expect them,

And when it is not fair.

But if we have love,

Our knees may be bloodied,

But our hearts will be unbroken.

4th Friday of Lent

 

Where are you from?

One of the first things we often ask someone when we first meet them is,

“Where are you from?”

Because this tells us a lot about the person.

Where was Jesus from?

People thought they knew.

They thought He was from Nazareth;

The son of a carpenter.

And so they could ignore His claims to be the Messiah.

Jesus however tries to tell them where He is REALLY from.

He is from God.

And since He is from God,

He knows God.

But since the people themselves were not from God,

And therefore did not know God,

They rejected Him.

Only those who know God

Will know Jesus

And will Know that Jesus comes from God.

But to know someone,

You have to spend time with them!

Saturday 3rd Week of Lent

 

Love not Sacrifice Hosea 6:1-6

Lent is a time when we try to make sacrifices.

We sacrifice food, shopping and other pleasures.

But unless those sacrifices make us more loving we are wasting our time.

Because God wants love above all.

God wants us to return to Him with all our Hearts!

Friday 3rd Week of Lent

 

The Annunciation

When the Archangel Gabriel asked Mary if she would bear God's only Son;

Mary responded by saying YES!

Mary said YES however not only to the honor of being the Mother of God

but she she said YES to all that came with it.

Yes, To the sorrow of having her heart be pierced by a sword;

Yes, To the rejection of being an unwanted immigrant in a foreign country and,

Yes, To suffering at the foot of the cross.

It is easy to say YES to God when He offers us joy and consolations.

But how willing are we to say YES

when He offers us a share in His suffering and His cross?

Mary said YES to everything, all the time.

Do we?

YES only means YES if it includes the cross!

Thursday 3rd. Week of Lent

 

If Today you hear His voice. Ps. 95

The prophets continually spoke to the people but no one was listening.

They had hardened their hearts so that the word of God could not take root.

God speaks everyday

In the Magnificence of Creation;

In those around us;

In the Scriptures.

But is anyone listening?

If today You hear His voice in Creation, your neighbor or the Scriptures,

Do not harden your hearts, but open your ears.

And Listen!

Wednesday 3rd. Week of Lent

 

Fulfillment Mt. 5:17-19

Jesus did not come to abolish the law or prophets but to fulfill them.

What however are the law and the prophets?

What do they teach?

In Deuteronomy 6:5 the Law teaches to love the Lord you God with all your heart and soul.

And the Prophets teach to “act justly, love tenderly and walk humbly with God.” Micah 6:8

Jesus fulfilled the Law and the Prophets because of His Love.

And those who Love like Jesus, will also fulfill the Law and the prophets,

And will be great in the Kingdom of Heaven. Mt. 5:19

Tuesday 3rd. Week of Lent

 

A two way street Mt. 18:21-35

Forgiveness is a two way street.

Everyone wants to receive forgiveness,

But not everyone wants to give forgiveness.

No gives forgiveness like God!

Freely and to anyone who asks for it.

The only person to whom God withholds forgiveness,

Is those who refuse to give forgiveness to others.

Forgiveness therefore is a gift that can only be received

When it it given away.

Monday 3rd Week of Lent

 

God sometimes works outside the box Lk. 4:24-30

God sends prophets to His people but “they are never accepted in their own native place.” Lk. 4:25.

So God sometimes works outside the box and speaks to and heals those who may not always fit the norm when it comes to religion and Fatih.

As when He healed Naaman the Syrian or fed the widow from Sidon during the famine.

God does what God wants when God wants.

This is what makes God, God!

And we cannot limit Him in what He chooses to do or

How He chooses to speak and to whom He chooses to heal.

Although having Faith helps a great deal!!

Third Sunday of Lent

 

The Crowning with thorns

Sticks and Stones may break my bones but words will never hurt me.

I’d like to meet the person who came up with that!

Stones can break our bones.

And bones can heal.

But words pierce our hearts.

That can leave wounds that never heals.

No one would think about picking up a stone and throwing it at someone;

But many people do not hesitate to criticize and attack another person

Verbally on Socially Media.

It seems as if it is open warfare now.

As people attack each other verbally in social media and in conversations.

No one turns the other cheek,

Except Jesus!

After Jesus was scourged,

The soldiers slapped Him on one cheek and then on the other and then back again.

They spit in His face;

Laughed at Him and mocked Him.

And then placed a crown of thorns on the head of the King of Kings.

And how did Jesus respond to these verbal attacks?

He turned the other cheek.

For them to do it all over again.

The Creator allowed His creature to slap Him in the Face.

Isn’t this what our sin does.

It slaps God in the face

And what does God do?

God turns the other cheek!

If God Who is innocent and never did anything wrong can turn the other cheek,

Shouldn’t we?!

Saturday Feast of St. Joseph the Husband of Mary

Memorare to St. Joseph

Remember, O most chaste spouse of the Virgin Mary, that never was it known that anyone who implored your help and sought your intercession were left unassisted. Full of confidence in your power I fly unto you and beg your protection. Despise not O Guardian of the Redeemer my humble supplication, but in your bounty, hear and answer me. Amen.

Friday Second Week of Lent

 St. Cyril of Jerusalem.

St. Cyril lived in Jerusalem and died in 386.

He once said,

“you have just heard distinctly, That our Lord Jesus Christ in the night in which He was betrayed.

Took bread, and when He had given thanks He broke it, and gave to His disciples, saying, Take, eat, this is My Body:

and having taken the cup and given thanks, He said, Take, drink, this is My Blood. “

Since Jesus Himself said of the Bread, This is My Body, who should dare to doubt any longer?

And since He Himself said, This is My Blood, who should ever hesitate, saying, that it is not His blood?”

And then neither should we hesitate to proclaim

That we receive His very Body and Blood at every Mass.

Thursday Second Week of Lent

 

Feast of St. Patrick

When People think of St. Patrick they think of shamrocks, green beer, parades and snakes.

But the real St. Patrick

Was a slave captured by Irish raiders;

And became a shepherd on a cold and windswept hill in Ireland.

How does one go from being a slave who herds sheep;

On a forgotten hill,

On an island

On the farthest edge of the known world,

To one of the most famous people on the planet?

Well when the God who took the form of a slave,

And died on a hill

In the backwaters of the Roman Empire

Calls you in a dream to come.

Anything is possible.

Patrick faced slavery;

Cold and isolation;

Betrayal by his best friend;

Went back to the land of his slavery;

And Risked imprisonment and death;

And converted an entire country.

How did he do it?

Because he had Christ.

As he wrote:

Christ was on his left and on his right.

Christ was above him and below him.

Christ was within him and all around him.

Christ was in the face of every person he met.

Christ was his Shield.

He was surrounded by Christ.

Wednesday Second Week of Lent

 

Drinking the Cup Mt. 20-17-28

Who wouldn’t love having dinner with the pope?

Sitting right next to him and clinking glasses and saying please pass the bread!

How awesome that would be.

How much more awesome it would be to be sitting next to Jesus in the heavenly banquet feast in the kingdom of heaven!

We can, as long as we are willing to drink of his cup here on earth.

Maybe not the cup of martyrdom as James and John did.

Just the cup of daily crosses and suffering.

And we drink the Cup of Christ

When we daily accept those crosses and sufferings

With Patience, Forgiveness and Love.

And then Christ will save us a seat at His heavenly banquet.

Tuesday Second Week of Lent

Hear and Listen Is. 1:10-20

Isaiah accuses Israel of being just like Sodom and Gomorrah.

Refusing to hear and listen to the word of God.

God called Israel to put away their misdeeds.

To cease doing evil and learn to do good.

To hear the cry of the poor.

When we too refuse To do these things,

We are no better than Sodom and Gomorrah!

Monday Second Week of Lent

 

Be Honest Dn. 9:4-10

Lent is a time to be honest.

To be honest that we have not lived our Christian Faith to its fullest.

Daniel the prophet was honest.

He admitted that he had sinned, been wicked and done evil.

Rebelled from God’s commandments and laws.

Honesty is the first stage to change.

The Second Sunday of Lent

 

The Second Sorrowful Mystery of the Rosary is the Scourging of Jesus.

In ancient Rome crucifixion was almost always preceded by scourging which tore the flesh and opened wounds making the sight of the person being crucified all the more dreadful.

Pilate was torn between his fascination with Jesus and his need to follow the crowd.

So he had Jesus scourged, hoping that when the people saw his wounds and His suffering they would ask for Barabbas instead,

And he could let Jesus go.

So The hands that healed;

That fed 5,000;

Were tied to a pillar.

He offered His back to those who beat Him.

His cheeks to those who plucked His beard.

His face to their spit. Is. 50

And when the crowd saw Him it did not touch their hearts all.

When we stop and think about the scourging of Jesus

Does it touch our hearts?

When we see the suffering of others

Does it touch our hearts?

The sight of Jesus scourged at the pillar motivated

Saint after saint to mortify themselves with fasting and bodily penance.

John the Baptist wore camel’s hair and ate locusts and honey.

St. Francis would Fast for months at a time.

Thomas More wore a hair shirt.

Every saint mortified their bodies.

Like them does the sight of Jesus being scourged inspire us to mortify our bodies?

To forgo bodily pleasures,

For spiritual ones;

To deny ourselves and take up our cross?

St. Paul says

If you live according to the flesh you will die, but if by the Spirit you you will live. Rom. 8:13.

If an athlete mortifies his body to win the race;

And an actor mortifies her body to play the role;

If people mortify their bodies to get into shape;

How much more should a Christian mortify his or her body

To gain the crown of glory and eternal life.

Saturday first week of Lent

 

Prayer to Our Lady of Sorrows

Our mother of sorrows, with strength from above you stood by the cross, sharing in the sufferings of Jesus, and with tender care you bore him in your arms, mourning and weeping. 

We praise you for your faith, which accepted the life God planned for you.  We praise you for your hope, which trusted that God would do great things in you.  We praise you for your love in bearing with Jesus the sorrows of his passion.

Holy Mary, may we follow your example, and stand by all your children who need comfort and love.

Mother of God, stand by us in our trials and care for us in our many needs.  Pray for us now and at the hour of our death.

Amen!

Friday first week of Lent

 

Reconciliation Mt. 5:20-26

Before walking in to Church;

Before kneeling down in prayer;

Before coming up for Communion.

There is one thing we must do.

And that is to be reconciled with one another.

We are divided by politics, race, and religion.

Not just in our streets but even in our homes.

It cannot be that way in Church.

All division must cease when we walk into church.

Jesus lived in a time of division

just like ours and this is why He said,

“BEFORE, you go to the altar be reconciled with your brother.” Mt. 5:24

For only then will what we do at Mass,

Bear fruit in our hearts.

And be pleasing to God.

Thursday first week of Lent

 

Seek, Ask and Knock Mt. 7:7-12

How many people would go up to a stranger and ask for help?

How many people would go to a stranger's house and knock on the door for help.

Not too many.

Yet how many people do this with God everyday?

They hardly know God and yet constantly ask for help.

They spend maybe an hour a week in prayer on Sunday morning.

And nothing more.

An hour a week does not a best friend make!

Barely an acquaintance and certainly not a working relationship.

For many people God is in reality a stranger or just an acquaintance.

Before seeking miracles;

Before asking for answers;

Before knocking on His door for help;

Maybe we should should get to know God better,

So that He is not a stranger, but our best friend and Lord.