"Lord, during this Lenten season nourish us with your word of life and make us one in love and prayer ….." (Mass Prayer in Lent)
God nourishes us with His word especially in Lent. The selection of readings is excellent, designed to excite faith and conversion. Note how the Holy Spirit guides the Church in the planning of the Liturgy. The Church urges the faithful to attend daily Mass during Lent so that they could be nourished with the rich scriptures of this joyful season.
"Lord, direct my steps as you have promised, and let no evil hold me in its power." (Psalm 119: 133)
Where God has promised to lead and guide me:
Step by step guidance
Moment by moment protection from evil
Thank you Father.
"Then Peter went up to him and said, 'Lord, how often must I forgive my brother if he wrongs me? As often as 7 times?' Jesus answered "Not seven, I tell you, but 77 times." (Matthew 18: 21-22)
If we forgive our debtors, God will forgive us our sins and answer all our prayers. Lord, teach me to forgive completely.
"Do not abandon us to shame but treat us in accordance with your gentleness, in accordance with the greatness of your mercy." (Daniel 3: 42)
God is supremely gentle and merciful.
"And now we put our whole heart into following you, into fearing you and seeking your face once more. " (Daniel 3: 41)
Lent is the time to put our whole heart into following God through:
In Lent, we demonstrate a greater keenness in observing the commandments.
"Lord, you call us to your service and continue your saving work among us. May your love never abandon us….." (Mass Opening Prayer)
It is the Father who called me to serve Christ Jesus.
Father, bring what you have initiated to a successful conclusion. Grant success to the Enterprise.
"I call upon you, God, for you will answer me; bend your ear and hear my prayer. Guard me as the apple of your eye; hide me in the shade of your wings." (Psalm 17: 6,8)
Answer to prayer is certain.
Guard me as the apple of your eye: step by step guidance; moment by moment protection from all harms. Preserve me from every assault of the devil. Hide me in the shade of your wings.
If we open the eyes of our spirit, we see that we are engaged in continuous spiritual warfare. We need God's constant help in order to fight and keep standing. God promises us His guidance and protection. Faith gives us access to these promises.
"I hope in the Lord; I trust in his word; with him there is mercy and plenty of redemption." (Psalm 130: 5,7)
Yes, I trust in God's promise. I hope in the Lord. I wait on the Lord. Hope does not disappoint because it is built on faith in God's word. God honors his name and word/promise above all things.
Praise and honor to you, Lord Jesus Christ!
"And in the Prophet Elisha's time there were many suffering from virulent skin-diseases in Israel, but none of these were cured – only Naaman the Syrian." (Luke 4: 27)
The story of Naaman the leper is one of my favorites in the Old Testament. I gleaned a number of lessons from it. Some of the lessons are:
God's sovereignty is shown in His reaching outside Israel to show His mercy and power. I see also the loving providence of God in planting the Israelite slave girl in the household of Naaman. Naaman's servants persuaded him to act as Elisha the Prophet had instructed him to do. That is, to plunge seven times into the River Jordan. In the act of the servants, I perceive elements of sincere and loving evangelization. How this contrasts from what we see today where the servants might have said: "it is not our business to convince him. He is old enough to know what he wants. We do not want to appear intolerant or coercive. He is a free man; he should decide for himself.' Finally, I see the act of plunging into the water as a type and shadow of the Sacrament, especially Baptism. The Sacrament is an outward sign of an inward grace that affects what it signifies. It is a small material sign that affects mighty works. The simple act of plunging into the River Jordan brought Naaman the healing that no other means was able to give him.
God favors those who trust in His ways.
"Father, if the prophet had asked you to do something difficult, would you not have done it? All the more reason then, when he says to you, 'Bathe, and you will become clean." (2 Kings 5:13)
A Sacrament is an outward sign of inward grace, affecting what it signifies.
A sacramental can be described as a sacramentette, an external agent delivering the effects they promise.
Faith gives us the promise of God's peace, provision, protection, power, purpose and pardon. Faith also gives us the full effects promised by the Sacraments and sacramental.
Naaman's servants encouraged Naaman to have faith by their words.
God is pure spirit. He has left man some conditions and material agents through which we unleash his power on our behalf. Some of these are:
"The angel of the Lord spoke to Philip saying, 'Set out at noon and go along the road that leads from Jerusalem down to Gaza, the desert road." (Acts 8: 26)
The Holy Spirit is the power behind the missionary activity of the Church. He is the main principle of apostolic productivity and fruitfulness.
Spirit and Mission
Spirit and Evangelization
"Father, you gave St. John of God love and compassion for others. Grant hat by doing good for others we may be counted among the saints in your Kingdom …." (Opening Prayer in the Mass of St. John of God)
St. John of God is one of my patron saints. He is my patron saint for book/pamphlet distribution ministry. St. John of God after his conversion spent his life doing good for others in book distribution and tending the sick.
"Jesus answered and said to her, 'Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks the water I shall give will never thirst; the water I shall give will become in heaven a spring of water welling up to eternal life." (John 4: 13-14)
The water that Jesus gives is the Holy Spirit. Thank you Jesus for this incomparable gift. Grant me the grace to be totally open to the Holy Spirit during this coming Lent.
" 1 On that day, you will say: I give you thanks, O LORD; though you have been angry with me, your anger has abated, and you have consoled me.
God indeed is my savior; I am confident and unafraid. My strength and my courage is the LORD, and he has been my savior.
With joy you will draw water at the fountain of salvation,
and say on that day: Give thanks to the LORD, acclaim his name; among the nations make known his deeds, proclaim how exalted is his name.
Sing praise to the LORD for his glorious achievement; let this be known throughout all the earth.
Shout with exultation, O city of Zion, for great in your midst is the Holy One of Israel!" (Isaiah 12)
"And hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us." (Romans5: 5)
The Navarre Bible Commentary has the following commentary on the above text:
"The love which St. Paul speaks of here, at one and the same time, God's love for us – manifested in his sending the Holy Spirit – and the love which God places in our soul to enable us to love him. The Second Council of Orange, quoting St. Augustine, explains this as follows: "To love God is entirely a gift of God. He, without being loved, loves us and enabled us to love him. We were loved when we were still displeasing to him, so that we might be given something whereby we might please him. So it is that the Spirit of the Father and the Son, whom we love with the Father and the Son, pours charity into our hearts"
"Oh that today you would hear his voice: 'Harden not your hearts as at Meribah, as in the day of Massah in the desert, where your fathers tempted me; they tested me though they had seen my works." (Psalm 95: 8-9)
Meribah and Massah are types and shadows of testing ground in the desert. Some spots in the desert are harsher than others. In your desert, transition experience, watch out for the Meribah and the Massah. No matter how tough the situation, listen to what God is saying to you. Harden not your heart.
"In those days, in their thirst for water, the people grumbled against Moses, saying, 'Why did you ever make us leave Egypt? Was it just to have us die here of thirst with our children and our livestock?' ….'Is the Lord in our midst or not?'" (Exodus 17: 3-7)
Why did the Lord allow the people to be very thirsty without providing them water? God was testing them. The desert experience was essentially a period of training and testing for the people. But at Massah and Meribah, the people turned the table and tested God. If God was genuinely with them, he would surely have provided them with water. We too tend to equate God's presence in our lives with his gifts. If I have everything I need here and now, it means that God is with me. But when I experience delays, disappointments and obstacles, I ask: "Is the Lord with me or not?" The message of Exodus 17: 3-7 is that God is always with his people in thick or thin.
"God of all compassion, Father of all goodness, to heal the wounds our sins and selfishness bring upon us, you bid us turn to fasting, prayer and sharing with our brothers. We acknowledge our sinfulness, our guilt is ever before us; when our weakness causes discouragement, let your compassion fill us with hope and lead us thru a Lent of repentance to the beauty of Easter Joy." (Mass Prayer in Lent)
The Church always sees God as Father of all goodness and God of compassion. Whenever I read of God's infinite mercy and goodness, it brings joy to my heart. At a time of great challenges, these perennial and healing truths are refuge and stronghold for me. Today is one such occasion. I am in great need to know intimately God's perfect love for me. Scripture says that "Perfect love drives out fear." I want God's perfect love for me to drive out the fear I feel on a project.
The above prayer promises that God heals the wounds that our sins and selfishness bring upon us by bidding us turn to fasting, prayer and sharing our resources with our brothers. Lent is a favorable time for doing this. During this holy period of self-denial, we are guaranteed that our prayers will be heard. Finally, we are told that God does not want us to be discouraged by our weaknesses. Lent is a good time.
"Father, you have taught us to overcome our sins by prayer, fasting and works of mercy. When we are discouraged by our weakness, give us confidence in your love ….." (Mass Opening Prayer in Lent)
Lex orandi, lex credendi. We believe that we can overcome our sins by prayer, fasting and good works of mercy. Lord, teach me the truth of this.
"I will prove my holiness through you …. I will pour clean water on you and wash away all your sins. I will give you a new spirit within you, says the Lord." (Ezekiel 36: 23-26)
This is a great promise. Let it be done to me, Father, according to your word.
Through Baptism, God poured clean water over us and washed away our sins. Through the sacrament of Reconciliation, he continues to maintain us free from sin and the attachment to sin. The Sacrament of Reconciliation is like a house-cleaning agent.
God's promise to give us a new spirit was first fulfilled at Pentecost and then at our Confirmation.
"But it was only right we should celebrate and rejoice, because your brother here was dead and has come to life; he was lost and is found." (Luke 15: 32)
God our Father is a merciful, compassionate, long-suffering, faithful, omnipotent and great God who desires the lost to be found and the dead to sin to come to life of grace.
