Blog Post 3/31/2022 – Our Lenten Journey

  

Our Lenten Journey

 

Fr. Michael Tournade, OSFS wrote, “LORD, you have searched me, You know me.

You know when I sit and stand.  You understand my thoughts from afar.  If I climb to the highest heavens, You are there.  Where can I hide from Your Presence, where can I flee?

If I fly with the wings of the dawn and land beyond the sea, Even there Your Hand guides me.

Your right Hand holds me fast.  Even darkness is not dark for You.  Probe me, Lord, and know my heart; try me, know my concerns.  See if my way is crooked, and then lead me in the ancient pathways.” (Falling in Love with God, Fr. Michael Tournade, OSFS)

 

The Lord knows you and loves you, our Lenten sacrifices help us understand that Love a little bit more clearly.

 

Our Lady of Perpetual Help, intercede for us.

St. Michael, ask God to help the Ukrainians.

May God Be Praised and your day be Blessed.

 

And with St. Francis de Sales let us remember, "We shall steer safely through every storm, so long as our heart is right, our intention fervent, our courage steadfast, and our trust fixed on God."

 

 

 

Blog Post 3/30/2022 – Our Lenten Journey

 

Our Lenten Journey

 

St. Margaret Mary wrote, "The Divine Heart is an ocean full of all good things, wherein poor souls can cast all their needs; it is an ocean full of joy to drown all our sadness, an ocean of humility to drown our folly, an ocean of mercy to those in distress, an ocean of love in which to submerge our poverty." 

Today pray in the Divine Ocean, who is Father, Son & Holy Spirit.

Our Lady of Perpetual Help, intercede for us.

St. Michael, ask God to help the Ukrainians.

May God Be Praised and your day be Blessed.

And with St. Francis de Sales let us remember, "We shall steer safely through every storm, so long as our heart is right, our intention fervent, our courage steadfast, and our trust fixed on God."

Blog Post 3/29/2022 – Our Lenten Journey - May Peace return to Ukraine.

 

 

 

Our Lenten Journey - May Peace return to Ukraine.

 

 

 

 

 

In America Magazine Jim McDermott shared a powerful Stations of the Cross for Ukraine on March 18, 2022. “This Lent, we are also confronted by the catastrophic invasion of Ukraine. Since the invasion began, Ukrainian-American artist and photojournalist Tatyana Borodina, a former art director of America,, has been gathering and publishing texts, emails and photos from people suffering from the violence at her Ukrainian-oriented magazine Elegant New York.”  Here are the Opening and Closing Prayers for her version Stations of the Cross:

Opening Prayer 

God of Peace, in Lent you draw us together to witness the depth of your love for us. Allow that love now to intercede in the invasion of Ukraine. Rescue your children. Unite our family. End this war.  Amen.

Closing Prayer

Loving God, in the Stations of the Cross you show your faithfulness to us, faithfulness even to your death on the cross. Be faithful now to all living in Ukraine. Grant them the salvation you revealed at Easter. Bring us all closer to your kingdom.  Amen.

Go to America Magazine for her version of the Stations of the Cross, they are very powerful.  

 

Our Lady of Perpetual Help, intercede for us.

St. Michael, ask God to help the Ukrainians.

May God Be Praised and your day be Blessed.

And with St. Francis de Sales let us remember, "We shall steer safely through every storm, so long as our heart is right, our intention fervent, our courage steadfast, and our trust fixed on God."

 

3/28/2022 – Our Lenten Journey

 

Our Lenten Journey

 

 

St. Francis de Sales wrote, “Great works do not always come our way but every moment presents us with opportunities to do little ones with excellence.” (T XII 6)

 

This Lent focus on the hundreds of opportunities that come our way each day to do little acts of kindness or love to those around us.

 

Our Lady of Perpetual Help, intercede for us.

St. Michael, ask God to help the people of Ukraine.

 

May God Be Praised and your day be Blessed.

And with St. Francis de Sales let us remember, "We shall steer safely through every storm, so long as our heart is right, our intention fervent, our courage steadfast, and our trust fixed on God."

 

                                                                                                            

Blog Post 3/27/2022 – Our Lenten Journey - Laetare [Rejoice] Sunday

 

Our Lenten Journey - Laetare [Rejoice] Sunday

 

A Reflection to Guide our Rejoicing

 

 

Five Salesian Spiritual Principles:

1. Listen to the heart, God’s heart

2. Commit to follow God’s heart

3. Perfect freedom is in following God’s heart

4. Belong to God by following God’s heart

5. Do Ordinary things for God

 

These Little Virtues can guide our hearts into following God’s more closely and more fully:

 Gentleness

 Patience

 Simplicity

 Humility

 Affability

 Tolerance of our own imperfections

 

Our Lady of Perpetual Help, intercede for us.

St. Michael, ask God to help the Ukrainians.

May God Be Praised and your day be Blessed.

 

And with St. Francis de Sales let us remember, "We shall steer safely through every storm, so long as our heart is right, our intention fervent, our courage steadfast, and our trust fixed on God."

 

 

 

 

Blog Post 3/26/2022 – Our Lenten Journey – Seek God’s Mercy and Forgiveness

 

Our Lenten Journey – Seek God’s Mercy and Forgiveness

 

Jonah is spewed onto the land after his three days in the whale’s belly, and the Lord said “… go to Nineveh, that great city and proclaim to it the message that I tell you.”  [Jonah 3:1-2]

In Nineveh Jonah repents, he is given shade from a bush that God provided.  This respite is short-lived because the next day the wonderous plant withers and dies.  Jonah is angry, very angry at God.  “Reading through the book of Jonah, we soon come to realize that God speaks to us not only through his word but also through our own confused emotions ….”

Occasionally our experience of God is an experience in “glorious bewilderment”, but many times we struggle to be faithful to God’s Word, to live the Gospel in our time, to “Live Jesus.” 

“The message of the Book of Jonah is that God, the living God, is the God of all people and a God of compassion.” [p.50]  “The Book of Jonah ends with a question.”  How does God’s mercy intersect with God’s justice."

Seek your answer in the Parable of the Prodigal Son and may God’s mercy and forgiveness lead you to His justice.

 

Jonah teaches us to:

1.     Listen to God

2.     Hope in God

3.     Seek God’s Mercy & Forgiveness

An important Message for Lent.

 

Our Lady of Perpetual Help, intercede for us.

St. Michael, ask God to help the people of Ukraine.

May God Be Praised and your day be Blessed.

And with St. Francis de Sales let us remember, "We shall steer safely through every storm, so long as our heart is right, our intention fervent, our courage steadfast, and our trust fixed on God."

 

 

 

 

 

Blog Post 3/25/2022 – Our Lenten Journey – Hope in God

 

 

Our Lenten Journey – Hope in God

 

For 3 days and 3 nights Jonah is in the belly of the whale, In Matthew’s Gospel Jesus will spend 3 days and 3 nights in the heart of the earth.  In ancient times a large or enormous fish was thought to “ a primeval sea monster.”  [Fr. Paul Murray, p. 20]

 

The image of Jonah points to the hope of eternal life, for us who are sinners, who disobey God, who do not listen to God.

Three days I remained in that sea-fish, A symbol forgiveness of sins, for that’s how long Christ remained in his tomb and then triumphed with his human nature.” [ Ibid., p. 25]

Jonah prayed “to the Lord his God”, we should emulate Jonah and pray to the Lord our God.

Jonah’s life is a mirror of the suffering we sometimes endure, in darkness and in despair – longing for God.

                                                                Hope in God.

 

N.B. Today Pope Francis consecrates Ukraine and Russia to the Blessed Mother.

Our Lady of Perpetual Help, intercede for us.

St. Michael, ask God to help the Ukrainians.

May God Be Praised and your day be Blessed.

And with St. Francis de Sales let us remember, "We shall steer safely through every storm, so long as our heart is right, our intention fervent, our courage steadfast, and our trust fixed on God."

 

 

 

Blog Post 3/24/2022 – Our Lenten Journey – Listen to God

 

      Our Lenten Journey – Listen to God

 

We are going to take a 3 Day Journey with Jonah, based on the book “A Journey with Jonah: The Spirituality of Bewilderment” by Fr. Paul Murray, O.P.

 

Jonah is an ancient prophet, and Jesus explicitly refers to in the New Testament [in the Gospels of Matthew and Luke], “the sign of Jonah.”

 

Below is the link to the entire Book of Jonah 48 verses [one of the shortest Books in the Bible]: https://bible.usccb.org/bible/jonah/0

 

Jonah learned Obedience and he learned by listening to God.

 

How can you and I learn to Obey God by listening to God?

 

Our Lady of Perpetual Help, intercede for us.

St. Michael, ask God to help the Ukrainians.

May God Be Praised and your day be Blessed.

 

And with St. Francis de Sales let us remember, "We shall steer safely through every storm, so long as our heart is right, our intention fervent, our courage steadfast, and our trust fixed on God."

Blog Post 3/23/2022 - Our Lenten Journey

Our Lenten Journey  

 

Today let us remember what St. Francis de Sales said, "We shall steer safely through every storm, so long as our heart is right, our intention fervent, our courage steadfast, and our trust fixed on God."

 

Today take a few minutes to reflect on this insight, “The human heart despite the centuries has not changed, its fundamental rhythm is still the heartbeat of God.”  [Wendy Wright wrote on Francis de Sales]

 

“The rhythm of our soul is found in the rhythm of God, so we must allow the Holy Spirit to mold our hearts, our minds and our souls to God’s Will.  In doing that, our lives reflect God to the world and the joy of discipleship permeates our being.”  [Dcn. George Kelly]

 

Salesian Scholar Wendy Wright asks, “What claims your love?”  “Where do [your] deepest desires lie?”

 

What is your answer?  What claims your love?

 

 

Our Lady of Perpetual Help, intercede for us.

St. Michael, ask God to help the people of Ukraine.

May God Be Praised and your day be Blessed.

 

And with St. Francis de Sales let us remember, "We shall steer safely through every storm, so long as our heart is right, our intention fervent, our courage steadfast, and our trust fixed on God."

 

Blog Post 3/22/2022 – Our Lenten Journey -A Prayer and A Plea for Peace in Ukraine

 

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Our Lenten Journey - A Prayer and A Plea for Peace in Ukraine 

Let us bend our knees and our hearts and pray to the Lord.  O God of mercy and of love the people of Ukraine are suffering (greatly), Come to their assistance.  We know that you “… shall judge between the nations and impose terms on many peoples.  They shall beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks; One nation shall not raise the sword against another, nor shall they train for war again.”  [Isaiah]

May the peace You offer reign in our hearts, in the hearts of the people of Ukraine, in the hearts of the people of Russia and in the hearts of all the people of the world.

*The image is available at the Salesian Shop https://www.salesianshop.com/the-sacred-artwork-of-bro-mickey-mcgrath/

 

Our Lady of Perpetual Help, intercede for us.

St. Michael, ask God to help the Ukrainians.

May God Be Praised and your day be Blessed.

 

And with St. Francis de Sales let us remember, "We shall steer safely through every storm, so long as our heart is right, our intention fervent, our courage steadfast, and our trust fixed on God."

 

 

 

 

 

Blog Post 3/21/2022 – Our Lenten Journey

Our Lenten Journey

 

“… I bore you up on eagle wings and brought you here to myself. Therefore, if you hearken to my voice and keep my covenant, you shall be my special possession ….”  [Exodus]

 

If you do what I tell you and keep my covenant, out of all the nations you will be my own possession, dearer to me than any other people.  You shall be to me a kingdom of priests, a consecrated nation.

 

You are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a consecrated nation, a people God has claimed as his own.  You shall be to me a kingdom of priests, a consecrated nation.  [Exodus 19:5, 6; 1 Peter 2:9]

 

Reflect on being God’s chosen one.

 

Our Lady of Perpetual Help, intercede for us.

St. Michael, ask God to help the people of Ukraine.

May God Be Praised and your day be Blessed.

And with St. Francis de Sales let us remember, "We shall steer safely through every storm, so long as our heart is right, our intention fervent, our courage steadfast, and our trust fixed on God."

 

Blog Post 3/20/2022 – Our Lenten Journey

Our Lenten Journey

 

Today spend some time reflecting on this insight from St. Anthony of the Desert: "This is the great work of humans: always to take the blame for their own sins before God and to expect temptation to his last breath."

 

A powerful reminder of the condition of the road on which our spiritual journey takes place.  But don’t despair follow the advice of St. Francis de Sales, "We shall steer safely through every storm, so long as our heart is right, our intention fervent, our courage steadfast, and our trust fixed on God."

 

Our Lady of Perpetual Help, intercede for us.

St. Michael, ask God to help the Ukrainians.

May God Be Praised and your day be Blessed.

 

Blog Post 3/19/2022 Our Lenten Journey

 

 

Our Lenten Journey: Homily Cycle II 3/18/2022

Readings: https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/0318-memorial-cyril-jerusalem.cfm

An Irish nun was returning from a pilgrimage to Lourdes and while going through Customs, the inspector finding a bottle of clear liquid, asked, "What's this, Sister?"

"Why, it's Lourdes Water.  I've just been to Lourdes." Unscrewing it to smell it, "Sister, this isn't Lourdes water, this is gin!"  "Ah, thanks be to God! Another miracle!"

We acknowledge God’s goodness and the fact that any goodness we have comes from God. 

de Sales said, “You make spiritual progress by continually beginning again & again.” (Every Day with Saint Francis de Sales, p.238) 

Today we celebrate St. Cyril of Jerusalem, whose Catecheses on the ritual and theology of the Church in the mid-fourth century was very valuable.  At Council of Constantinople, amended the Nicene Creed to include the word consubstantial—that is, Christ is of the same substance or nature as the Father.

The Gospel was from Matthew [it is the Memorial for St. Cyril of Jerusalem, Doctor of the Church] in it we heard about the vine grower, the branch and the fruit.  God created us to live His Word, so that our life would be fruitful.  Lent is an opportunity for us to grow from our spiritual pruning, and that pruning is necessary for our development as disciples of Jesus Christ.

Take a few minutes today and reflect on what in your life needs to be pruned, so you can be closer to the Lord.

 

Our Lady of Perpetual Help, intercede for us.

St. Michael, ask God to help the people of Ukraine.

May God Be Praised and your day be Blessed.

And with St. Francis de Sales let us remember, "We shall steer safely through every storm, so long as our heart is right, our intention fervent, our courage steadfast, and our trust fixed on God."

 

Blog Post 3/18/2022 - Our Lenten Journey

 

Our Lenten Journey

 

 

 

“Return to me with your whole heart, with fasting, and weeping, and mourning;  Rend your hearts, not your garments, and return to the Lord, your God.  For gracious and merciful is he, slow to anger, rich in kindness, and relenting in punishment.”  (Joel 2:12-13)

 

Take a few minutes today to think about your Lent and your spiritual review of your life in Christ, for Christ and with Christ.  Does Christ shine through your actions and your words?

 

Our Lady of Perpetual Help, intercede for us.

St. Michael, ask God to help the people of Ukraine.

May God Be Praised and your day be Blessed.

 

And with St. Francis de Sales let us remember, "We shall steer safely through every storm, so long as our heart is right, our intention fervent, our courage steadfast, and our trust fixed on God."