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When we persevere with the help of a gentle discipline, we slowly come to hear the still, small voice and to feel the delicate breeze, and so to come to know the presence of Love.
HENRI NOUWEN
Friday, Feb 26, 2021
LENTEN WEEKDAY DAY OF ABSTINENCE
The low rumble within
Anger is one of our human “passions,” the Catechism of the Catholic Church instructs, neither good nor bad in and of itself. Anger can provide us with helpful information that we feel wronged by someone or something. It may be intense or a low rumble within. Lent is an opportunity to become still, listen to our anger, and examine its source. How might we invite God into these rough spaces for healing? Desiring healing does not disregard hurt or suffering rather we seek to “unhook” from anger to live in peace. Unhooking might mean talking with a loved one who hurt us. It might mean protesting against injustice. It might mean forgiving ourselves. What might be rumbling within your heart?
TODAY'S READINGS: Ezekiel 18:21-28 Matthew 5:20-26.
“Go first and be reconciled.”
#takefiveforfaith
Got some friends, Lord,
who are carrying some heavy loads,
their plates full of cares and concerns,
troubles and fear, loneliness and doubt...
So, I was wondering...
Could you slow things down for them,
even just a little, in the days ahead?
Could you fill in the potholes and smooth the bumps
on the road they're traveling?
Could you make their lives a little less complicated
and a whole lot simpler?
Could you spare them the curve balls
and throw a couple right down Broadway?
Could you gently touch their grief
and mend their broken hearts?
Could you give them a break
from bad news, discouragement and distress?
Could you take at least a few things off
their already full and overflowing plates of problems?
Could you let them catch a glimpse of you
standing close by their side?
Could you give them the time and space they need
to sit back, relax and find a little peace?
Could you relieve their doubts
and refresh their faith in you?
Could you bless their tender hearts,
their ailing bodies and their broken spirits
with your healing and compassion?
And we'd all be grateful, Lord,
if you'd give us some hints
on how best to help one another
when we we feel so helpless, so powerless
over what others are facing...
We're all so powerless in so many ways
and need to trust in you, Lord,
to lean on you, to ask you to be:
our strength in our weakness,
our wisdom in our doubts,
and our hope
through the darkest of lonely nights...
Got some friends, Lord,
who are carrying heavy loads, their plates overflowing
with cares and concerns, with troubles and fears:
help them know and see and feel your presence,
your love, your strength, your mercy and your peace...
Amen.
🎨 ‘Burdens Seen and Unseen’
Brian Kershishnik
Wow. Love ❤️
If you bring your gift to the altar,
and there recall that your brother
has anything against you,
leave your gift there at the altar,
go first and be reconciled with your brother,
and then come and offer your gift. Matthew 5:24
📷 Reconciliation (Josefina de Vasconcellos sculpture)
#dailyingodsword
To add a few to the list...
•
Going to work, folding laundry, doing the dishes, grocery shopping, cutting the grass, changing diapers, cooking dinner...
•
When you look at all these mundane chores and responsibilities as opportunities to glorify God and prayerfully connect your soul to His endless Grace... they instantly become tiny, joyful, achievable little tasks in the quest of holiness and sanctity!
•
What if our Lenten observance was simply to use our daily work as prayers offered in service and love of God??
•
Amen to all those little opportunities today!!
•
☕️🙏🏻 #coffeewithsaints
St Martin de Porres, pray for us
Our Christian hope begins with inspiration. Jesus awakens us spiritually and plants within us the desire to live out of love, faith, wisdom, and justice. Gradually the vision of our destiny comes into focus. We begin to see what is truly important; we can almost picture what the “kingdom of God” is and how we are part of it.
But we must practice our hope. Some days the vision fades, and we have to return to the basics: God loves us passionately, and we are invited to participate in God’s life. We practice hope with every prayer, every instance of gratitude, and every phrase of Scripture. We practice by gathering together and retelling the Jesus story through liturgy and song.
—Excerpt from “Hope Is an Art” by Vinita Hampton Wright
Still trying to catch up with Lent? Need a simple idea to encourage daily prayer this Lent? Check this out!
Learn more at www.jesuits.org/spirituality/ignatian-lent/
God's call for our hospitality looks different in this time of safe distancing, but the call did not vanish entirely. It merely manifests in new ways. Instead of a family dinner, perhaps communion is a socially distant picnic with a struggling neighbor. Maybe a phone call with a relative or friend builds belonging.
How have you built belonging? 💞 How has someone made you feel like you belong?
Now here is what I am trying to say: All of you together are the one body of Christ, and each one of you is a separate and necessary part of it.
1 Corinthians 12:27
Thursday • February 25, 2021
LENTEN WEEKDAY
Has prayer moved you?
It is tempting to think about prayer in a transactional way: I ask, therefore God gives. Today’s gospel may even appear to encourage this form of thought: “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find.” But Catholic teaching urges us to see God’s response to prayer broadly. Pope Francis explains: “Prayer always transforms reality: if things around us do not change, at least our hearts are changed. Jesus promised the gift of the Holy Spirit to every man and woman who prays.” If you have a prayer that seems unanswered, consider how your heart was moved by the mere act of praying.
Today's readings: Esther C:12, 14-16, 23-25; Matthew 7:7-12. “For everyone who asks, receives; and the one who seeks, finds.”
📷Sacred Heart Women’s Retreat pre-pandemic ♥️ #takefiveforfaith
Gospel• Matthew 7:7-12
Jesus said to his disciples:
“Ask and it will be given to you;
seek and you will find;
knock and the door will be opened to you.
For everyone who asks, receives; and the one who seeks, finds;
and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened.
Which one of you would hand his son a stone
when he asked for a loaf of bread,
or a snake when he asked for a fish?
If you then, who are wicked,
know how to give good gifts to your children,
how much more will your heavenly Father give good things
to those who ask him.
“Do to others whatever you would have them do to you.
This is the law and the prophets.”
📷 #tbt with our first 707 Youth Ministry banner 2016- Yep, that’s where the name came from, todays reading Matthew 7:7 to encourage our youth as they Ask, Seek, Knock after Jesus.
#dailyingodsword #youthministry
