Saturdays Prayer to Our Lady of Sorrows

 

Saturdays

Prayer to Our Lady of Sorrows

O mother of sorrows,

With Faith,

You accepted the life God planned for you.

With Hope

You trusted that God would do great things for you.

With Love

You stood by Jesus in His sufferings.

O Holy Mother of God,

stand by us in our trials and

Pray for us now and at the hour of our death.

Amen!

Friday 1st. Week of Lent

 

The Scribes and the Pharisees were the professionals.

The religious leaders.

No one prayed like them.

No one fasted like them.

And no one followed all the rules and regulations of the Faith like them.

Yet In spite of all that,

They were not going to get into the Kingdom of Heaven.

Because They thought their prayers and fasting made them better than everyone else.

They saw everyone else’s sins but not their own.

Unless our holiness SURPASSES that of the scribes and the Pharisees we too will not enter the Kingdom of Heaven.

So what are we to do if all of our prayers, and fasting and keeping of the commandments is not enough to get into Heaven?

Our prayers and fasting and keeping of the commandments

Do not make us better than everyone else.

rather they reminds us that we are sinners like everyone else

In need of God’s Mercy

And only with God’s Mercy,

Will we enter the Kingdom of Heaven.

Thursday 1st. Week of Lent

 

A cry for help. Esther

Esther was a queen.

She had money and power and influence.

But she still needed God!

There are just somethings in life that money, power and influence will not solve.

So she turned to God.

But she always turned to God;

Even before she became queen

With all that money, power and influence.

If we want God to answer us on the day we call for help,

Then we must pray to Him everyday,

Everyday, so that He will recognize our voice when we do!

Wednesday 1st. Week of Lent

 

The words of Jonah and Jesus. Jon. 3:1-10

When the Ninevites heard the words of Jonah,

They tore open their vestments which was a sign of sorrow for sin and opening up one’s heart to God;

Covered themselves with ashes;

And fasted.

When we hear the words of Jesus,

What do we do?

Tuesday 1st. Week of Lent

 

The Lord’s Prayer. Mt. 6:7-15

God is not a distant being,

Rather God is our Father;

We should show God some respect therefore and

And hallow His name.

For His Kingdom is coming and the kingdoms of this world are passing.

Therefore do His Will and and the gates of His Kingdom will be open to you.

Come to the Lord’s table and be fed with the Bread from Heaven;

And if we want forgiveness, then we must be willing to give it.

Since Life is filled with temptations,

please lead us through the dark valleys to greener pastures,

And do not let evil overcome us,

But help us to overcome evil with good.

Monday 1st Week of Lent

 

Be Holy! Lev. 19:1-2

Many people say to themselves;

“I am a good person.”

I do not steal or lie or cheat.

And while that is good,

It is not enough.

We must be Holy!

As God is Holy!

Why settle for being good,

When one can be Holy!

The 1st. Sunday of Lent

 

Like any soldier going off to war;

Jesus was going into battle;

And the desert was the crucible in which to prepare.

For in the desert,

It is just you and the sand;

And so the devil was swirling around Him,

Coming at Jesus from all sides.

First one temptation and then another then another.

Trying to blind Jesus;

And keep his eyes off the goal;

Of His Father’s Will and Calvary.

So the devil tempted Jesus with food.

He knew Jesus had to be hungry after fasting for 40 days.

Certainly He would give in to His appetites.

But Jesus knew

One does not live on bread alone.

One does not live by feeding one’s appetites

Our appetites are like a roaring lion saying “Feed me.”

Not just our appetite for food but for, the desires of the flesh. power, control, revenge, material things.

When we give in to these temptations our appetites only roar louder and threaten to consume us.

The second temptation was to doubt God.

If God loved Jesus as His only Son,

Certainly God would protect Him from all harm and evil.

Jesus knew,

That you shall not put God to the test.

How often do we test God’s love?

If God really loved me He would save me, free me; protect me, help me.

When we give in to this temptation it does nothing but increase our doubts and lead us to despair.

The last temptation was all about the riches of this world.

The devil tempted Jesus by telling Him that happiness and fulfillment and found in the world.

Jesus knew that,

The Lord God is the only one we should worship and serve.

So many people worship at the altar of power, money, possessions, sports, popularity, good looks;

Idols all made out of sand.

Lent is a time for us to go into the desert and face our battles and our temptations and not be fooled

For they are just sand that slips through our fingers

Always leaving us empty handed.

Friday after Ash Wednesday

 

What kind of Fast? Is. 58:1-9

When people think of fasting

They sometimes think of not eating between meals

Or giving up something like chocolate.

Or no meat on Fridays.

The people of Israel fasted from food and did penance

but the Lord would not listen to their prayers.

Why?

Because that was not the kind of Fast God wanted.

What good does it do if we fast from food and others go hungry?

What good does it do if we wear sackcloth and others go naked?

What good does it do if we pray to God and then turn our back on our neighbor?

Our fasting must feed the hungry

And our penance must break down the walls that divide us.

If we want God to hear our prayer.

Thursday After Ash Wednesday

 

Polycarp!

Now there’s a name you don’t hear too often.

But has been remembered in the Halls of the Kingdom of Heaven.

His is a name and a life though that will never be forgotten.

For he was a disciple of St. John the Apostle,

Who ordained him as Bishop of Smyrna.

And who was later burned at the stake and stabbed to death for the Faith.

And one of the three chief Apostolic Fathers,

Along with Clement of Rome and Ignatius of Antioch.

He once said,

“Hear me declare with boldness, I am a Christian!”

Perhaps if we are unashamed and just as bold about being a Christian,

Our name too will be remembered forever,

In the Kingdom of Heaven.

Ash Wednesday

 

Into the Desert

Jesus went into the desert where He fasted and prayed for 40 days and was tempted by the devil.

Ever since then, people have gone into the desert

To imitate Jesus;

To fast and pray and face their own demons.

This is what Lent is all about!

Lent is not about chocolate;

Or losing weight for summer;

Or even fish instead of meat;

Lent is about going into the desert;

Away from the world

To be alone with God

And face our demons.

The church doors are open;

Come to the quiet

And pray and face your demons as Jesus did,

And in the end angels will come and minister to you too!

Tuesday 7th week of Ordinary Time

 

Undisturbed in times of Adversity Sirach 2:1-11

Accept whatever befalls you;

Be steadfast in sorrow;

Patient in misfortune;

For God will reward you in the end.

Abraham, Isaac and Jacob;

Moses, Job, and Jeremiah;

All the saints and prophets

were tested like gold and silver in the fire.

Be undisturbed in times of Adversity.

For God is only using it to polish up the crown of glory

That He will give to those who persevere.

Monday 7th Week of Ordinary Time

 

Only through prayer Mk. 9:14-29

What problems are you facing?

Whatever they are we often google it,

Or ask a doctor or lawyer or counselor

For advice on what to do.

And when nothing happens we are lost.

The disciples could not expel a demon from a man who was possessed.

And they tried everything,

Except prayer!

And Jesus had to remind them and us today,

That something only are fixed through prayer!

The 7th Sunday of Ordinary Time The End of Evil

When one practices "an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth"

eventually they become blind because it is a cycle of violence that never ends.

Instead Jesus tells us to "offer no resistance to one who is evil."

At first this sounds as if evil will win.

And for awhile it may even appear that way.

But evil breeds evil.

Anger breeds anger.

Revenge breeds revenge.

When one does not respond with evil, anger or revenge

it slowly begins to die.

It has no heart in which to take root and grow.

Turning one's cheek however takes two things.

First it takes courage.

Because you will undoubtably get the other cheek slapped as well.

Secondly it takes Faith that God and Good will prevail in the end.

But what is the alternative?

To fight back and become embraced by evil, anger and revenge?

Throughout one's day we have numerous opportunities to fight back or to turn the other cheek.

While driving a car, talking to co-workers, or even at home.

It is not enough just to turn the other cheek and not fight back,

if we become angry and desire evil upon them in our hearts.

Then while we may have turned the other cheek,

the anger and resentment in our hearts will only take root and grow

so that the next time it happens we will strike back,

overcome not by the evil, anger and vengeance in the other person but in ourselves.

In Auschwitz Kolbe was beaten, kicked and starved to death and neither did he fight back nor did he become angry or hateful.

He was truly free!

He may have been a prisoner of the Nazis but he was not going to be one to anger, hatred and vengeance as well.

And this is why and how Jesus could pray from the cross,

"Father forgive them, for they know not what they do.

The next time you feel like yielding to evil,anger and vengeance, turn the other cheek do what Jesus did and say,

"Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do!