Dear friends in Christ Jesus,
 

         The three tools to truly change this Lent are prayer, fasting, and almsgiving.  And, if there is one thing we can never do enough of, it is pray.
 
         Prayer needs not be only time in church, on our knees, or at specific times.  Prayer needs to become a way of life.  We must strive to be constantly united to Jesus Christ in our way of living, that we “pray always.”  How wonderful it would be if praying became as natural as breathing. 
 
         I was at a profession of a dear friend of mine some years ago, when she united herself formally to a Carmelite convent.  She pointed out to me that some of the nuns that ‘never break prayer.’  Even if they talk to you or do some task they keep themselves fully united to their Lord in constant prayer, with heart and mind raised to Him.  I soon experienced what she was pointing out to me as I spoke with one of the Carmelites.
 
         While the average Catholic is not called to this specifically, you and I are called to strive to pray constantly by uniting whatever we think, say, or do to Jesus Christ, the REAL person who loves us more than others do and more than we love ourselves.  That is the challenge and joy of the Good News!
 
Peace and prayers in Jesus through Mary, loved by Saint Joseph,
 
Father Robert

 
P.S.  This past Sunday was the Second Sunday of Lent.  The readings can be found at:  Second Sunday of Lent | USCCB

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Catholic Term of the Week
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Not listed in any particular order

1) Be my best friend.
2) I need to know you call my name in your prayers
3) Hold me when I cry 
4) Show and tell me that you love me often, and leave no doubt about it in my mind.
5) Show me your approval when I make a decision that is good.
6) Talk to me about what's important to you and to me.
7) Listen to me and don't treat me like I am stupid and don't know anything.
8) I need intimacy, and not just sexually.  Anyone can have relations, but it takes a REAL man to be intimate.
9) Make me feel wanted and trusted in the things I can do for you.
10) Don't try to make me like your mother.
11) Remember that I am your "Help Mate".  I am not someone to be stomped on and just used for your "whims".
12) Understand that I like to have our family near and want all relationships to be what God intended.
13) Comfort and hold me.
14) Be a one woman man.
15) Take the spiritual lead in giving me (and our children) direction and guidance.
16) Ask me for my help - it is good to be regarded as a helper and useful.
17) Make appropriate adjustments to your lifestyle and preferences as a married / family man.
18) Treat me with love and respect in the company of others.
19) Show appreciation and affirmation.
20) Tell me you love me often, even if you think I should already know this.
21) Show affection for no "reason" at all.
22) Make me feel as though I am still desirable.
23) Be devoted to caring, giving protection, and affirming your love.
24) Encourage me to realize my goals, and don't put me down for trying something new.  Try to understand how I feel and listen to me when I try to tell you something that is important to us or that is hurting us.
 
“Prayer is both a gift of grace and a determined response on our part. It always presupposes effort.  The great figures of prayer of the Old Covenant before Christ, as well as the Mother of God, the saints, and he himself, all teach us this: prayer is a battle.  Against whom?  Against ourselves and against the wiles of the tempter who does all he can to turn man away from prayer, away from union with God. We pray as we live, because we live as we pray. If we do not want to act habitually according to the Spirit of Christ, neither can we pray habitually in his name. The "spiritual battle" of the Christian's new life is inseparable from the battle of prayer.”
Catechism of the Catholic Church #2725
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The late Cardinal Francis Xavier Nguyen Van Thuan is on track to sainthood because of his extraordinary faith and love in the midst of many suffering and mistreatments after the Vietnam War.
He was imprisoned by the Vietnamese Communists for many years, most of that in solitary confinement, because he was the nephew of the late South Vietnamese president, Ngo Dinh Diem.
They put him in prison without any real reason, except with the lame excuse of making sure that he was to be “re-educated” in the new Marx-Lenin socialist system.
He underwent many sufferings, but from that experience, the Servant of God learned to live his faith, love the Lord and his captors in the midst of trials.
In the beginning, he questioned and asked God why He would permit something like this to happen.
He thought he could be of better help to his people as a shepherd in their times of trial than being imprisoned. He thought he could be of a better asset to the suffering and oppressed Church than being isolated and imprisoned.
Yet, little by little, he began to embrace reality and tried to live his priesthood where the Almighty had planted him!
In the darkest time of his life, the late Cardinal learned how to love those who disliked him. He found strength and nourishment with the Mass, and at times, only with a few drops of wine and a little bit of water in one hand, and a piece of the host on the other.
He offered Mass for his people with the wine and hosts smuggled in as medicines for his weak stomach.
In his memoirs and talks, he mentioned that there were times that he was so tired, sick, or beaten down, that he could not pray. Yet, in those moments, he simply offered his sufferings as personal, loving sacrifices for his Diocese and the people that he was appointed to shepherd but could not due to imprisonment.
He learned much through silent suffering, uniting his hardships with the redemptive love of Jesus Christ for the welfare and goods of his people.

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“In a solemn pilgrimage with thousands of people, everyone wants to carry the cross at the head of the procession. But in the pilgrimage of our daily lives, how many people are prepared to carry their own crosses? Indeed, it is difficult to be an unsung hero.”
Because of his kindness and love, the wardens of his various locations kept changing guards because he won over the hearts of his captors.
Those sent to watch him wanted to learn about the faith because they saw in him the genuine devotion and love. The higher-ups did not like it, hence further labeled him as a rebel who tried to indoctrinate the people with superstitious lies.
For his loving testimony of faith and courage, St. Pope John Paul II gave him the honor of the red hat in 2001. He was made a prince of the Church for the love worth suffering for–one that moves hearts of even hardest people!
In many of his talks, the cardinal often said that the Lord Jesus Christ is really bad at mathematics, and even worst with economic skills!
How can the Almighty ever do something so humanly irrational, unwise, or unproductive to seek out the unimportant, sinners, abandoned, or forgotten? Someone who is humanistic would focus on the more important and influential people, a productive or beneficial choice!
Yet, perhaps only the loving God who is merciful and gentle of heart could imagine and do such a thing for us who are His beloved.
Over and over again, the Sacred Scriptures remind us of God‘s relentless love and His compassion for us, even at times when we did not deserve it.
He forgave us at times when we could not even forgive ourselves. He gave His life for us, even though we, at times in our lives, did not think that life is worth living.
He pursued us when we wanted to rebel and stray away from Him in order to find our self-created happiness and ego-centered freedom.
I think our society talks much about love and belief in God.
It seems to be a trend now to simply say that one is a Christian or a believer, but some have become so vocal and really critical of others.
People often allow their frustrations, resentment, or anger to get the best out of them on social media and other public venues, that there seems to be no more common courtesy, respect, or the desire for civil discourse.
Many seem to have no problem using the Sacred Scriptures for their own self-righteous or personal agendas, but not many people allow the divine truth to transform them.
It seems to be easier to attack others or demonize them instead of truly listening, caring, and loving others as Christ Jesus loves us. If that was the case, the Lord‘s teachings and death on the Cross for sinners and those who hated Him would be in vain.
If that is the case, the late Cardinal Francis Xavier‘s own life experience would be in vain and would bear no value for our Christian call to holiness, because it would be easier to be self-righteous, condemn, and point the fingers at others without genuinely and humbly leading others to the Lord.

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They are not the endpoints of our Christian vocation and call to holiness.
We might not always agree with the people around us. We might have been dealt with the wrong card. We might have been mistreated and hurt by others. We might not always get what we hoped for or wanted in life.
However, if we truly believe in His divine providence and trust in His faithful love, we have to believe that God can make all things good for those who love Him. (cf. Romans 8:28)
Perhaps right in the storms, trials, or sufferings of our faith journey, He is using it to deepen, transform, and strengthen our love!
We are never without Him and cannot do anything without Him. He is in the midst of it all, so we are invited to open up our hearts and invite Him into whatever is going in our lives now.
No matter what is going on, we are reminded that He has not given up on us: seeking, pursuing, calling us back, and using all things to make us stronger in our Christian vocation, mission and purpose–especially our call to holiness.
I think those who have loved someone can sympathize with God‘s own love — to pursue, embrace, and love someone even when that person pushes us away.
We only hope that when the person recognizes it, he or she will return with genuine self-giving love, too. That is all we can ever wish for in giving our everything to the person or people who are precious to us!
And if we feel this sense of pursuing and faithful love as human beings, I think that is what God wants, too, from each and every one of us, who, at one time or another in our lives wants us to love Him back with our everything instead of taking for granted His mercy and love for us.
Therefore, let us not be worried and held back from answering His love for us. Even though it is not always easy, it is so worth it! Even though our society loves to talk about love as if it is attractive and easy, we learn to put into practice though God’s calling to faithfulness.
It is hard, but to love is to pursue, seek, call, care, be patient, and give ourselves totally and completely to those around us so the divine love of God can shine in and through us.
This article originally appeared on Fr. Khoi Tran’s iThirst Blog.

Throughout Lent, many people deepen their prayer life with spiritual practices and devotions.
Some choose to pray the rosary daily. Others pray the Stations of the Cross. Some might even sing the Stabat Mater along the way.
Mary is an excellent companion during the Lenten season, especially her messages and apparitions.
Prayer, penance, and almsgiving are the three pillars of the Lenten season. In Our Lady’s approved apparitions, she directs us to these pillars and encourages us to live them.
In the village of Beauraing in Belgium, Our Lady appeared to five children. She told the children to “pray, pray very much, pray always.”
In other apparitions, Our Lady told the seers for what or who they should pray.
In Fatima, she requested they pray the rosary for peace in the world. In Champion, Wisconsin, she requested they offer their holy communion for the conversion of sinners.
Not only did Our Lady tell us who or what to pray for, she requested different methods of prayer. Mary encourages us to become more prayerful, as well as intercessors for others.
Our Lenten observance also emphasizes penance. Our Lady also requested this in her apparitions.To St. Bernadette in Lourdes she said, “penance, penance, penance.”
At Fatima, she told the three children to offer their small sacrifices out of love for God and the Immaculate in reparation for sin and the conversion of sinners.
We fast and make acts of self-denial throughout Lent. Be sure to offer these sacrifices to God as a prayer. As you do so, Mary will accompany you on your Lenten journey, for she encouraged us to do penances.
The third element of Lent is almsgiving in our care and support for the poor.In Mary’s Magnificat, she prays that God “casts down the mighty from their thrones and lifts up the lowly.” Mary has a special place in her prayer and heart for the poor.
The visionaries in Our Lady’s apparitions came from poor families. St. Bernadette’s family was incredibly poor. In Lourdes, the sick and those poor in health come and pray for healing.
In 1933 when Mary appeared to Mariette Beco in Banneux, Belgium, she told the child she was the “Virgin of the Poor.”
During this season of almsgiving, we journey with a woman who identifies with the poor, and allow those who are poor financially, physically, spiritually, or emotionally, to turn to her motherly intercession.
Throughout your Lenten journey, consider doing so in prayer with the Blessed Virgin. And if you’d like, listen to Mary’s words from her approved apparitions and allow them to guide your life, not only during Lent, but for the rest of your life.

Madrid, Spain, Mar 6 (EWTN News/CNA) -After an anti-clerical childhood and adolescence, filled with hatred for the Church, Fr. Juan José Martínez says he discovered “that God exists and wants me as his priest.”

“Sunday mornings I would peer out of the balcony of my house, and when the people were going by on their way to Mass, I would spit on them. I told them that the Church was a sect that wanted their money,” explained the priest, who ministers in the Diocese of Almeria, Spain.


Fr. Juan José's parents were not believers, and he had received no religious formation, but he said they did not raise him to be intolerant. In fact, he says he does not know where he got all those ideas, because the perception he had of the Church and God was that of a “multinational corporation with branches in every neighborhood to extract money, like a sect.”


“I was absolutely anticlerical, I was the first student in my school and the town of Carboneras, Almeria Province, to never be taught Religion because when I was 8 or 9, I chose the alternative course which was Ethics. In the following years, I went on convincing my friends to quit Religion classes and to take Ethics with me. In the end, my whole class ended up being taught Ethics and none of them Religion.”


But what he never imagined is that the end of his journey would be to help his friends to come back to the Church. Fr. Juan José remembers quite well that the first day he went into a Catholic church, “I went to make fun of those who had invited me.”


“It was in January 1995, some friends from class invited me to a Catholic Charismatic Renewal prayer group at the parish. Obviously I told them I wasn't planning on going because I didn't want them to brainwash me. For a whole month they persisted. I finally gave in – it was a Thursday in February 1995 when I went into a Catholic church for the first time.”




A golden box


A lot of his friends were there, and he was surprised because “they were all looking at a golden box at the back of the church. I didn't know what it was, but I thought it was where the parish priest kept the money.”


That golden box was the Tabernacle.


Fr. Juan José says that he came to make fun of them because “I thought they were crazy. Inside, I was laughing at them a lot, but I was polite and concealed it.  But I decided to come back the following Thursday to laugh at them some more.”


And so one Thursday after another, Fr. Juan José was letting go of his prejudices against the Church and religion.


“The pastor seemed to me to be a very wise man who was helping the people,” he told CNA. And little by little, the love of God was penetrating his heart: “I was 15 years old and I started to sing at Mass, which meant I would attend Mass on Saturdays. I liked being in front of the tabernacle and little by little, I realized that God existed and loved me. I felt the love of God. The Charismatic Renewal group, which I had come to make fun of, helped me a lot.”
“My eyes were being opened and I saw that God was not a legend or story for the weak, but that he existed and that he was supporting and guiding me. I experienced that he loved me so much that he wanted me for himself and was calling me,” he recalled.




“I am yours for whatever you need”


Fr. Juan José had been baptized and made his First Communion because of his grandparents' wishes, but he did not have a relationship with God after that. “I made my Confirmation as I was right in the midst of the process of conversion, and it was a genuine gift. That day I told the Lord, 'I am yours for whatever you need.' My mother came but my father did not. It was a unique moment in my life to receive the Holy Spirit and to put my trust in the Lord.”
For months, the young Juan José was resisting the call to the priesthood. “I told the Lord that I didn't want any hassles and to quit talking to me. Until I had to make a decision and it was to follow him, becoming a priest.”


One Saturday afternoon when he was 17, Fr. Juan José told his father he wanted to go to the seminary. His father beat him and said that “he would be a priest over his dead body.”
“They did not understand that I would want to be a priest. In fact, my father offered to pay for me to go to college in the United States but (he told me) he would never pay for the seminary.”


In such a difficult moment, Fr.  Juan José recalled that all he could think of was the prayer of Saint Teresa of Avila: “Let nothing disturb you, nothing frighten you. All you need is God” and when his father stopped rebuking him, the young man gave him a hug and said to him, “I knew you were going to react like that, but I also knew that one day you'd understand.”


“Welcome”
In fact, his father went so far as to threaten to report the pastor to the police if kept helping his son discern his vocation. “My father was trying everything, but the Lord is stronger,” he said.


To obey his father, Fr. Juan José could not start the seminary, and so he began to study teaching at the University of Almeria. For years he was patient, and continued to be faithful to his vocation to the priesthood. Until one day in May 1999, as he recalled, his mother told him that she had spoken to his father and that finally he would let him enter the seminary. “I began to cry and cry. I remember when I told the pastor about it he said “welcome” and gave me a great big hug.”


In September 2000, he finally entered the seminary.


In 2006, Fr.Juan José was ordained in the Almeria cathedral and his father even attended the ceremony. “In no way did he want me to become a priest, but he saw that I was happy and even though he was totally anticlerical, he decided that the happiness of his son came before his ideology and if I was happy, even though he didn't understand it, he would have to accept it. “


In fact, he recalled that two years ago, “before dying, my father received the Anointing of the Sick. And it was I who administered it to him.”


“When somebody tells me he doesn't believe in God, I always tell him that neither did I believe in Him, but I was mistaken, because I have discovered the genuine happiness that Jesus has given to me. If you're not completely happy, ask the Lord to help you, because only He will give you the happiness that your heart needs.”


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(Vatican City, Feb 17 (EWTN News/CNA) - As homeless men and women line up under the massive arms of Saint Peter's colonnade waiting to take advantage of the Vatican's newly-christened showers and barbershop, volunteers who assist them say they are deeply moved by their encounter with a population often rejected by society.

“Initially when they offered me this (job) I thought I would find myself confronted with grouchy, perhaps mean people,” said volunteer barber Danielle Mancuso.

“Instead, I discovered a truly tremendous humanity.”

“You see these poor people out in the middle of the street, discarded. Then, you speak to them, and they're human,” he said, recounting his first day.

Officially inaugurated on Feb. 16, the facilities provide the opportunity for homeless individuals to have their hair cut each Monday – a day when barber shops in Italy are traditionally closed – by volunteer barbers. Meanwhile, the shower services will be offered daily, with the exception of Wednesday due to the large crowds which attend the weekly general audience. 

“I cut my hair, took a shower, beard, everything. It's wonderful!” 51-year-old Gregorio from Poland, who's been living in Rome for 13 years, told EWTN News. 

Construction began in November on new showers and bathrooms under the colonnades of St. Peter’s Square. 

Many barbers have volunteered with enthusiasm, including two barbers from the national Italian organization that transports the sick to Lourdes, France and other international shrines (UNITALSI). Other volunteers are finishing their final year in barber school. 

“It's been a great lesson for me,” said Andrea Valeriano, an UNITALSI volunteer. “Everyone has waited (their turn) calmly. And I've seen a lot solidarity among them.”

Papal almoner Archbishop Konrad Krajewski spearheaded the reconstruction of St. Peter's square bathrooms to include the shower and barbershop facilities, which have witnessed a substantial response since their opening.

The Polish bishop is charged with the dual responsibility of carrying out acts of charity for the poor and raising the money to fund them. When the archbishop was appointed, Pope Francis urged him not to stay at his desk but rather to be an active worker for the benefit of the poor.

Vatican Insider reported that Archbishop Krajewski received his inspiration for the showers after taking a homeless man to dinner in order to celebrate his birthday. The man, who turned 50, told the archbishop that finding food in the city is easy, but staying clean was not. 
 

“Prayer to Jesus is answered by him already during his ministry, through signs that anticipate the power of his death and Resurrection: Jesus hears the prayer of faith, expressed in words (the leper, Jairus, the Canaanite woman, the good thief) or in silence (the bearers of the paralytic, the woman with a hemorrhage who touches his clothes, the tears and ointment of the sinful woman). The urgent request of the blind men, "Have mercy on us, Son of David" or "Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!" has-been renewed in the traditional prayer to Jesus known as the Jesus Prayer: "Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner!" Healing infirmities or forgiving sins, Jesus always responds to a prayer offered in faith: "Your faith has made you well; go in peace." 
St. Augustine wonderfully summarizes the three dimensions of Jesus' prayer: "He prays for us as our priest, prays in us as our Head, and is prayed to by us as our God. Therefore let us acknowledge our voice in him and his in us." 
Catechism of the Catholic Church #2616

A bit of humor…
 -I saw an ad for burial plots, and thought to myself this is the last thing I need.  
-Just burned 2,000 calories. That's the last time I leave brownies in the oven while I nap.  
-I'm great at multitasking. I can waste time, be unproductive, and procrastinate all at once. 



For My Next Impression…I’m now in high school, so when I ran into my third-grade teacher, I doubted she would remember me.
“Hi, Miss Jones,” I said.
“Hi, Eddie,” she replied.
“So you do remember me?” I asked.
“Sure. You don’t always leave a good impression, but it is a lasting one.”


They Still Fit
I don’t want to brag or make anybody jealous or anything, but 
I can still fit into the earrings I wore in high school.




Drunk Driving 
A man is driving down to New York to see a show, and he's stopped in Connecticut for speeding. The state trooper smells alcohol on his breath, sees an empty wine bottle on the floor, and asks, "Sir, have you been drinking?" 
The man replies, "Just water." 
The trooper asks, "Then, why do I smell wine?" 
The man looks down at the bottle and exclaims, "Good Lord, Jesus has done it again, just like at the Wedding Feast of Cana!"
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After a church service on Sunday morning, a young boy suddenly announced to his mother,
"Mom, I've decided to become a minister when I grow up."
"That's okay with us, but what made you decide that?"
"Well," said the little boy, "I have to go to church on Sunday anyway,
And I figure it will be more fun to stand up and yell, than to sit and listen."
 
The Sunday School Teacher asks,
"Now, Johnny, tell me frankly do you say prayers before eating?"
"No ma'am," little Johnny replies, I don't have to.
My mom is a good cook."
 

“In the battle of prayer, we must face in ourselves and around us erroneous notions of prayer.  Some people view prayer as a simple psychological activity, others as an effort of concentration to reach a mental void.  Still others reduce prayer to ritual words and postures.  Many Christians unconsciously regard prayer as an occupation that is incompatible with all the other things they have to do: they "don't have the time."  Those who seek God by prayer are quickly discouraged because they do not know that prayer comes also from the Holy Spirit and not from themselves alone.”                -Catechism of the Catholic Church #2726


+JMJ+
SUNDAY MASS READINGS AND QUESTIONS
for Self-Reflection, Couples or Family Discussion
Second Sunday in Lent – Sunday, February 28th, 2021
The First Reading- Genesis 22: 1-2, 9A, 10-13, 15-18    
God put Abraham to the test. He called to him, "Abraham!" "Here I am!" he replied. Then God said: "Take your son Isaac, your only one, whom you love,  and go to the land of Moriah. There you shall offer him up as a holocaust on a height that I will point out to you." When they came to the place of which God had told him, Abraham built an altar there and arranged the wood on it. Then he reached out and took the knife to slaughter his son. But the LORD's messenger called to him from heaven, "Abraham, Abraham!" "Here I am!" he answered. "Do not lay your hand on the boy," said the messenger. "Do not do the least thing to him. I know now how devoted you are to God, since you did not withhold from me your own beloved son." As Abraham looked about, he spied a ram caught by its horns in the thicket. So he went and took the ram and offered it up as a holocaust in place of his son.  Again the LORD's messenger called to Abraham from heaven and said: "I swear by myself, declares the LORD, that because you acted as you did in not withholding from me your beloved son, I will bless you abundantly and make your descendants as countless as the stars of the sky and the sands of the seashore; your descendants shall take possession of the gates of their enemies, and in your descendants all the nations of the earth shall find blessing— all this because you obeyed my command."
Reflection 
The story is familiar to most: God commands Abraham to take Isaac to a certain mountain and sacrifice him there.  Abraham obeys, but before Isaac is slain, God intervenes through an angel.  A ram, caught in a thicket, is sacrificed instead of Isaac, and the story concludes with God’s oath of blessing on Abraham. The opening of the chapter recalls God’s initial call to Abraham in Genesis 12:1-3.  In both cases, God calls Abraham to act in faith, to journey to a place unknown in advance, that God “will show him.”  The point is, this event in Genesis 22 is an icon of Abraham’s whole life, a little drama that encapsulates the meaning of his entire spiritual journey. The foreshadowing of Calvary in Genesis 22 is obvious.  Here we have the only begotten—or “beloved”—son, carrying the wood of his sacrifice up the mountain, finally to be laid on the wood and willingly offered to God by his father.  Indeed, we are in the geographical location of Calvary.  According to 2 Chronicles 3:1, Solomon built the Temple on Mount Moriah, the same location where Isaac was almost sacrificed.  This is the Temple Mount; Calvary was only a short walk away, a little hill just outside the first-century walls of Jerusalem.
Adults -In what ways does Isaac foreshadow Christ?
Teens - How is Abraham a model for us?
Kids - How can you grow your faith in the Lord?
Responsorial- Psalm 116: 10, 15, 16-17, 18-19
R. I will walk before the Lord, in the land of the living.
I believed, even when I said,
"I am greatly afflicted."
Precious in the eyes of the LORD
is the death of his faithful ones.
R. I will walk before the Lord, in the land of the living.
O LORD, I am your servant;
I am your servant, the son of your handmaid;
you have loosed my bonds.
To you will I offer sacrifice of thanksgiving,
and I will call upon the name of the LORD.
R. I will walk before the Lord, in the land of the living.
My vows to the LORD I will pay
in the presence of all his people,
In the courts of the house of the LORD,
in your midst, O Jerusalem.
R. I will walk before the Lord, in the land of the living.
Reflection 
The Refrain, “I will walk before the Lord,” picks up a theme from the First Reading.  In Genesis 17:1, God commands Abraham to “walk before me and be blameless.”  The word “walk” (halak) is repeated several times in Genesis 22, notably in verse 8: “So they walked, both of them (Abraham and Isaac) together …”  It is as if the “righteous walking” demanded by God of Abraham in Genesis 17:1 is being fulfilled in Genesis 22.  All of us who share the faith of Abraham, and understand the self-sacrifice that it entails, also “walk before the Lord, in the land of the living.” -Pray daily that the Lord will guide your steps.
The Second Reading- Romans 8: 31B-34
Brothers and sisters: If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare his own Son but handed him over for us all, how will he not also give us everything else along with him? Who will bring a charge against God's chosen ones? It is God who acquits us, who will condemn? Christ Jesus it is who died—or, rather, was raised— who also is at the right hand of God, who indeed intercedes for us.
Reflection
The Second Reading continues the themes of the First.  Abraham did not spare his own son; neither did God the Father.  “If God is for us, who can be against us?  He … did not spare his own Son … will he not give us everything else?” Work on praying in a spirit of gratitude to the Lord. 
The Holy Gospel according to Mark 9: 2-10
Jesus took Peter, James, and John and led them up a high mountain apart by themselves. And he was transfigured before them, and his clothes became dazzling white, such as no fuller on earth could bleach them. Then Elijah appeared to them along with Moses, and they were conversing with Jesus. Then Peter said to Jesus in reply, "Rabbi, it is good that we are here! Let us make three tents: one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah." He hardly knew what to say, they were so terrified. Then a cloud came, casting a shadow over them; from the cloud came a voice, "This is my beloved Son. Listen to him." Suddenly, looking around, they no longer saw anyone but Jesus alone with them. As they were coming down from the mountain, he charged them not to relate what they had seen to anyone, except when the Son of Man had risen from the dead. So they kept the matter to themselves, questioning what rising from the dead meant.
Reflection 
The Transfiguration is actually an anticipation of Calvary.  At first this seems counter-intuitive: on Mount Tabor, Jesus is glorified; but on Calvary, he is crucified.  What can be the connection?  Yet this is the theology of the Gospel of John.  Speaking of his approaching Passion, Jesus says in John 12: “The hour has come for the Son of man to be glorified” (v. 23).  Again, after being betrayed: “Now is the Son of man glorified, and in him God is glorified;  if God is glorified in him, God will also glorify him in himself, and glorify him at once (John 13:31-32).  This is the mystery of our faith: God’s glory revealed through weakness, suffering, and humility.  Any god can triumph by brute force; but a God who triumphs through humble sacrifice?  Is this not a greater glory? Why do Moses and Elijah appear to Jesus?  As is well-known, Moses and Elijah represent the Law and the Prophets respectively, and together the “Law and the Prophets” referred to the entire Jewish Bible at that time (cf. Matt 5:17).  Furthermore, both these men were believed to have been assumed into heaven at the end of their lives: Elijah in 2 Kings 2:11, and Moses according to Jewish tradition (like the apocryphal work Assumption of Moses).  Thus, they were individuals already experiencing the beatitude of the divine presence, and able to appear on earth, unlike those souls still waiting in Sheol or Hades for the liberation that Christ’s resurrection would bring.
Adults - What are some of the mountaintop experience of your life, when God has felt particularly close to you? How did they strengthen your faith?
Teens  - Do you allow the gratitude for the blessings in your life strengthen your faith for the trials that come along?
Kids - How do you think Peter, James, and John felt when they saw Jesus transfigured?
LIVING THE WORD OF GOD THIS WEEK!  - Let us thank our divine Lord today, for giving this consoling and encouraging vision of his glory to his Apostles and through them to us. It was for them, and it is for us, a guarantee and a foretaste of the joys and the glory that will be ours for eternity, if we but persevere in our struggles against the world, the flesh and the devil…This thought will help us to carry our crosses as the thought of the future glory which will be ours should make us thank God that we have been created and thank his beloved Son for setting us on the road to that future glory. - Excerpted from The Sunday Readings by Fr. Kevin O'Sullivan, O.F.M.

Lenten Regulations, Ash Wednesday explanation, Pope Francis's Lenten Message and a Lenten Meditation, QandA on Lent are found below in this order.

​

Dear friends in Christ Jesus,
 
     Will this Lent be like any other, or will it be the Lent when everything changes?  Lent doesn’t have to be earth-shattering, momentous, or singular, but LENT HAS TO BE FOR HIM!  Why?  Because He prayed for YOU! He fasted for YOU! He was tempted for YOU! He suffered for YOU! He bled for YOU! He died, giving the alms of His very flesh and life for YOU!


“Yet it was our infirmities that he bore, our sufferings that he endured…he was pierced for our offenses, crushed for our sins,
Upon him was the chastisement that makes us whole, by his stripes we were healed.”  Isaiah 53:4a,5




Daily Lenten Reflections on the Daily Readings of Lent with Dr. Tim Gray 
https://formed.org/lent 


Do you want the "Best Lent Ever"? Daily quotes or videos sign up here:
http://dynamiccatholic.com/bestlentever/
Our lives change when our habits change!
-Matthew Kelly, Dynamic Catholic


 
      Will you and I give ourselves FOR HIM by laying them down for one another, especially the poor and downtrodden?!?  Will you and I carry our cross with Him this Lent to be raised up that many enter heaven?!?


Peace and prayers in Jesus through Mary, loved by Saint Joseph,
Father Robert

P.S. Lenten Regulations, Ash Wednesday explanation, Today’s Readings, Pope Francis's Lenten Message, and a Lenten Meditation are found below.

P.S.S.  ASH WEDNESDAY IS A DAY OF FASTING AND ABSTINENCE (see Lenten Regulations).
THIS COMING FRIDAY IS A DAY OF ABSTINENCE.
 
P.S.S.S.  Lenten Workshop Website
http://www.catholicculture.org/culture/liturgicalyear/overviews/seasons/lent/
 
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Homily from Ash Wednesday 2007, below (9 minutes): 

http://www.freewebs.com/godislove333/ASH%20WEDNESDAY-2-21-2007-700PM-St%20Michael-Remember%20you%20are%20dust.wav
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“By the solemn forty days of Lent the Church unites herself each year to the mystery of Jesus in the desert.”   
-Catechism of the Catholic Church #540
 

+JMJ+

GO DEEPER INTO LENT WITH DAILY REFLECTIONS FROM  
BISHOP ROBERT BARRON

 Join Bishop Robert Barron, (host of the video series, Catholicism, which aired on PBS) and 70,000 others as we journey through this season together. 
 Just click below and enter your e-mail address:

http://www.LentReflections.com/

Lent
The Christian faithful are to do penance through prayer, fasting, abstinence and by exercising works of piety and charity.   All Fridays through the year, and especially during Lent, are penitential days.  (“Piety” is the moral virtue by which a person is disposed to render to God the worship and service He deserves.)


Abstinence:
All who 14 years of age or older are to abstain from eating meat on Ash Wednesday, on all Fridays during Lent and on Good Friday.  (On other Fridays of the years, Catholics may substitute a work of penance or charity (i.e. extra prayers said for those in need; visiting or assisting the sick, poor, or needy; etc.) or abstain from meat.

Fasting:
All those who are 18 years of age and older, until their 59th birthday, are to fast on Ash Wednesday (Feb. 17) and Good Friday (April 2).   Only one full meatless meal is allowed on days of fast.   Light sustenance on two other occasions, sufficient to maintain strength, maybe taken according to one's needs.   But together, these two occasions are not to equal a full meal.   Eating between meals is not permitted, but liquids, including milk and fruit juices, are allowed.


The obligation does not apply to those whose health or ability to work would be seriously affected.   People in doubt about fast or abstinence should consult a parish priest.   The obligation does not apply to military personnel in deployed or hostile environments in which they have no control over meals.
To conscientiously disregard or purposely fail to observe the regulations of fasting and abstinence is seriously sinful (that is, an area of mortal sin).
CONFESSION/PENANCE/RECONCILIATION:
Catholics are bound by an obligation faithfully to confess serious sins at least once a year (Canon 989). Lent is an appropriate time to fulfill this obligation.
 
EASTER DUTY: 

After having received their First Holy Communion, all the faithful (all Catholics) are bound by the obligation of receiving Holy Communion at least once a year. This precept must be fulfilled during the Easter season, unless for a good reason it is fulfilled at another time during the year. This obligation may be fulfilled between Feb. 21 (First Sunday in Lent) and May 30 (Most Holy Trinity Sunday).​

Distribution of Ashes:
The distribution of Ashes should take place in a sacred place such as a church or a chapel.  The Order for the Distribution of Ashes provides that ashes should be distributed:
·  1. During Mass following the homily
·  2. At a (Catholic) Service of the Word
The Minister for Distribution of Blessed Ashes is a priest, a deacon, or a Catholic lay person.


THIS YEAR DUE TO THE RISK OF CORONAVIRUS SPREAD, ASHES WILL BE SPRINKLED ON THE HEAD AS THEY HAVE BIBLICALLY AND STILL ARE IN EUROPE.


Why Ashes?
On this day the Church invites us to receive a cross of ashes on our foreheads as a sign that during the coming days of Lent we will make a sincere effort to cleanse our lives of sin and to discipline ourselves through prayer and fasting.  Ashes are used because it is an outward sign of repentance and mourning.  Repenting and mourning in ashes is found in the Holy Bible in 2 Samuel 13:19; Esther 4:1; Job 2:8; Daniel 9:3; and Matthew 11:21.  Ashes are also reminiscent of dust, of which God speaks in the Holy Bible speaks, “for you are dust, and to dust you shall return.” (Genesis 3:19)  Thus, ashes also are a reminder of our mortality, that we will all one day die.


Who May Receive Ashes?
Baptized individuals who have reached the age of reason.   Babies and young children who have not yet received the Sacrament of Penance should not be presented to receive ashes since ashes are generally intended for those who are capable of personal sin.   The observance of Ash Wednesday is intended to lead the baptized members of the Church to repentance and renewal of baptismal promises at Easter. 


"Turn away from sin and be faithful to the Gospel."
 ​

PRESENTATION OF HOLY FATHER'S LENTEN MESSAGE FOR 2020

 
MESSAGE OF HIS HOLINESS 
Pope Francis
FOR LENT 2021
 

Message of the Holy Father




“Behold, we are going up to Jerusalem” (Mt 20:18)
Lent: a Time for Renewing Faith, Hope and Love


Dear Brothers and Sisters,


Jesus revealed to his disciples the deepest meaning of his mission when he told them of his passion, death and resurrection, in fulfilment of the Father’s will. He then called the disciples to share in this mission for the salvation of the world.


In our Lenten journey towards Easter, let us remember the One who “humbled himself and became obedient unto death, even death on a cross” (Phil 2:8). During this season of conversion, let us renew our faith, draw from the “living water” of hope, and receive with open hearts the love of God, who makes us brothers and sisters in Christ. At the Easter vigil, we will renew our baptismal promises and experience rebirth as new men and women by the working of the Holy Spirit. This Lenten journey, like the entire pilgrimage of the Christian life, is even now illumined by the light of the resurrection, which inspires the thoughts, attitudes and decisions of the followers of Christ.


Fasting, prayer and almsgiving, as preached by Jesus (cf. Mt 6:1-18), enable and express our conversion. The path of poverty and self-denial (fasting), concern and loving care for the poor (almsgiving), and childlike dialogue with the Father (prayer) make it possible for us to live lives of sincere faith, living hope and effective charity.


1. Faith calls us to accept the truth and testify to it before God and all our brothers and sisters.
In this Lenten season, accepting and living the truth revealed in Christ means, first of all, opening our hearts to God’s word, which the Church passes on from generation to generation. This truth is not an abstract concept reserved for a chosen intelligent few. Instead, it is a message that all of us can receive and understand thanks to the wisdom of a heart open to the grandeur of God, who loves us even before we are aware of it. Christ himself is this truth. By taking on our humanity, even to its very limits, he has made himself the way – demanding, yet open to all – that leads to the fullness of life.


Fasting, experienced as a form of self-denial, helps those who undertake it in simplicity of heart to rediscover God’s gift and to recognize that, created in his image and likeness, we find our fulfilment in him. In embracing the experience of poverty, those who fast make themselves poor with the poor and accumulate the treasure of a love both received and shared. In this way, fasting helps us to love God and our neighbour, inasmuch as love, as Saint Thomas Aquinas teaches, is a movement outwards that focuses our attention on others and considers them as one with ourselves (cf. Fratelli Tutti, 93).


Lent is a time for believing, for welcoming God into our lives and allowing him to “make his dwelling” among us (cf. Jn 14:23). Fasting involves being freed from all that weighs us down – like consumerism or an excess of information, whether true or false – in order to open the doors of our hearts to the One who comes to us, poor in all things, yet “full of grace and truth” (Jn 1:14): the Son of God our Saviour.


2. Hope as “living water” enabling us to continue our journey.
The Samaritan woman at the well, whom Jesus asks for a drink, does not understand what he means when he says that he can offer her “living water” (Jn 4:10). Naturally, she thinks that he is referring to material water, but Jesus is speaking of the Holy Spirit whom he will give in abundance through the paschal mystery, bestowing a hope that does not disappoint. Jesus had already spoken of this hope when, in telling of his passion and death, he said that he would “be raised on the third day” (Mt 20:19). Jesus was speaking of the future opened up by the Father’s mercy. Hoping with him and because of him means believing that history does not end with our mistakes, our violence and injustice, or the sin that crucifies Love. It means receiving from his open heart the Father’s forgiveness.


In these times of trouble, when everything seems fragile and uncertain, it may appear challenging to speak of hope. Yet Lent is precisely the season of hope, when we turn back to God who patiently continues to care for his creation which we have often mistreated (cf. Laudato Si’, 32-33; 43-44). Saint Paul urges us to place our hope in reconciliation: “Be reconciled to God” (2 Cor 5:20). By receiving forgiveness in the sacrament that lies at the heart of our process of conversion, we in turn can spread forgiveness to others. Having received forgiveness ourselves, we can offer it through our willingness to enter into attentive dialogue with others and to give comfort to those experiencing sorrow and pain. God’s forgiveness, offered also through our words and actions, enables us to experience an Easter of fraternity.


In Lent, may we be increasingly concerned with “speaking words of comfort, strength, consolation and encouragement, and not words that demean, sadden, anger or show scorn” (Fratelli Tutti, 223). In order to give hope to others, it is sometimes enough simply to be kind, to be “willing to set everything else aside in order to show interest, to give the gift of a smile, to speak a word of encouragement, to listen amid general indifference” (ibid., 224).


Through recollection and silent prayer, hope is given to us as inspiration and interior light, illuminating the challenges and choices we face in our mission. Hence the need to pray (cf. Mt 6:6) and, in secret, to encounter the Father of tender love.


To experience Lent in hope entails growing in the realization that, in Jesus Christ, we are witnesses of new times, in which God is “making all things new” (cf. Rev 21:1-6). It means receiving the hope of Christ, who gave his life on the cross and was raised by God on the third day, and always being “prepared to make a defense to anyone who calls [us] to account for the hope that is in [us]” (1 Pet 3:15).


3. Love, following in the footsteps of Christ, in concern and compassion for all, is the highest expression of our faith and hope.
Love rejoices in seeing others grow. Hence it suffers when others are anguished, lonely, sick, homeless, despised or in need. Love is a leap of the heart; it brings us out of ourselves and creates bonds of sharing and communion.


“‘Social love’ makes it possible to advance towards a civilization of love, to which all of us can feel called. With its impulse to universality, love is capable of building a new world. No mere sentiment, it is the best means of discovering effective paths of development for everyone” (Fratelli Tutti, 183).


Love is a gift that gives meaning to our lives. It enables us to view those in need as members of our own family, as friends, brothers or sisters. A small amount, if given with love, never ends, but becomes a source of life and happiness. Such was the case with the jar of meal and jug of oil of the widow of Zarephath, who offered a cake of bread to the prophet Elijah (cf. 1 Kings 17:7-16); it was also the case with the loaves blessed, broken and given by Jesus to the disciples to distribute to the crowd (cf. Mk 6:30-44). Such is the case too with our almsgiving, whether small or large, when offered with joy and simplicity.


To experience Lent with love means caring for those who suffer or feel abandoned and fearful because of the Covid-19 pandemic. In these days of deep uncertainty about the future, let us keep in mind the Lord’s word to his Servant, “Fear not, for I have redeemed you” (Is 43:1). In our charity, may we speak words of reassurance and help others to realize that God loves them as sons and daughters.


“Only a gaze transformed by charity can enable the dignity of others to be recognized and, as a consequence, the poor to be acknowledged and valued in their dignity, respected in their identity and culture, and thus truly integrated into society” (Fratelli Tutti, 187).


Dear brothers and sisters, every moment of our lives is a time for believing, hoping and loving. The call to experience Lent as a journey of conversion, prayer and sharing of our goods, helps us – as communities and as individuals – to revive the faith that comes from the living Christ, the hope inspired by the breath of the Holy Spirit and the love flowing from the merciful heart of the Father.


May Mary, Mother of the Saviour, ever faithful at the foot of the cross and in the heart of the Church, sustain us with her loving presence. May the blessing of the risen Lord accompany all of us on our journey towards the light of Easter.


Rome, Saint John Lateran, 11 November 2020, the Memorial of Saint Martin of Tours

All About Lent
adapted from material of James Akin

​

Q: What is Lent?
A: Historically, Lent is the forty day period of prayer, fasting, and almsgiving before Easter, excluding Sundays; it began on Ash Wednesday and ended on Holy Saturday (the day before Easter Sunday). In recent years, this has been modified so that it now ends with evening Mass on Holy Thursday (the Thursday before Easter Sunday), to prepare the way for Triduum (the three final days leading up to and including Easter Sunday.
Q: Why are the forty days called Lent?
A: They are called Lent because that is the Old English word for spring, the season of the year during which they fall. This is something unique to English. In almost all other languages its name is a derivative of the Latin term Quadragesima, or "the forty days."
Q: Why is Lent forty days long?
A: Because forty days is a traditional number of discipline, devotion, and preparation in the Bible. Thus Moses stayed on the Mountain of God forty days (Exodus 24:18 and 34:28), the spies were in the land for forty days (Numbers 13:25), Elijah traveled forty days before he reached the cave where he had his vision (1 Kings 19:8), Nineveh was given forty days to repent (Jonah 3:4), and most importantly, prior to undertaking his ministry, Jesus spent forty days in wilderness praying and fasting (Matthew 4:2).
Since Lent is a period of prayer and fasting, it is fitting for Christians to imitate their Lord with a forty day period. Christ used a forty day period of prayer and fasting to prepare for his ministry, which culminated in his death and resurrection, and thus it is fitting for Christians to imitate him with a forty day period of prayer and fasting to prepare for the celebration of his ministry's climax, Good Friday (the day of the crucifixion) and Easter Sunday (the day of the resurrection).
Thus the Catechism of the Catholic Church (a book explaining her teachings) states:
"'For we have not a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tested as we are, yet without sinning' [Heb 4:15]. By the solemn forty days of Lent the Church unites herself each year to the mystery of Jesus in the desert." (CCC 540).
In the 7th century, the Church added Ash Wednesday and the following three days to make it 40 days of fasting with Sundays being exempt from Lenten practices, though the entire time is the season of Lent.
Q: Why are Sundays excluded from the reckoning of the forty days?
A: Because Sunday is the day on which Christ rose from the dead, making it an inappropriate day to fast and mourn our sins. On Sunday we must celebrate Christ's resurrection for our salvation. It is Friday on which we commemorate his death for our sins. The Sundays of the year are days of celebration and the Fridays of the year are days of penance.
Q: When does Lent begin?
A: Lent begins on Ash Wednesday, which is the day on which the faithful have their foreheads signed with ashes in the form of a Cross (see piece on Ash Wednesday). It is also a day of fast (eating less than usual) and abstinence (eating no meat).  [The Tuesday before Ash Wednesday is sometimes called Mardi Gras, ‘Fat Tuesday,’ because some have made it a tradition to finish up excess food and treats since they will not be able to partake of such celebration until Lent ends.
Q: What is Ash Wednesday, and why is it different each year?
Ash Wednesday is the first day and beginning of Lent.  It is called “Ash” Wednesday, because the minister will lightly rub ashes in the sign of a cross onto the forehead of those who gather and come forward.  [In many European countries, ashes are sprinkled on the head.]  Ashes are used because it is an outward sign of repentance and mourning.  Repenting and mourning in ashes is found in the Holy Bible in 2 Samuel 13:19; Esther 4:1; Job 2:8; Daniel 9:3; and Matthew 11:21.  Ashes are also reminiscent of dust, of which God speaks in the Holy Bible speaks, “for you are dust, and to dust you shall return.” (Genesis 3:19)  Ash Wednesday is also a day of fast and abstinence (no meat) for Catholics.
The date of Ash Wednesday depends on the date of Easter.  The date of Easter is calculated as being the Sunday after the first full moon following the spring equinox.  Since ecclesiastical (Church) calculators always consider March 21 the date of the equinox, the earliest Easter can be is March 22 and the latest is April 25.  If Easter occurs on March 22, Ash Wednesday is on February 4 (as it last was in 1818 and will again be in 2285).  If Easter occurs on April 25, Ash Wednesday is on March 10 (as it last was in 1943 and will again be in 2038).
Q: Aside from Ash Wednesday, which begins Lent, what are its principal events?
A: There are a variety of saints' days which fall during Lent, and some of these change from year to year since the dates of Lent itself change based on when Easter falls. However, the Sundays during the Lenten season commemorate special events in the life of Our Lord, such as his Transfiguration and his Triumphal Entrance into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday, which begins Holy Week. Holy week climaxes with Holy Thursday, on which Christ celebrated the first Mass, Good Friday, on which he was Crucified, and Holy Saturday -- the last day of Lent -- during which Our Lord lay in the Tomb before his Resurrection on Easter Sunday, the first day after Lent.
Q: What is a day of fast and abstinence?
A: Under current Church law in the Western Rite of the Church, a day of fast is one on which Catholics who are eighteen to sixty years old are required to keep a limited fast. In this country, one may eat a single, normal meal and have two snacks if necessary, so long as these snacks do not add up to a second meal. Children are not required to fast, but their parents are to ensure they are properly educated in the spiritual practice of fasting. Those with medical conditions requiring a greater or more regular food intake can easily be dispensed from the requirement of fasting by their pastor.
A day of abstinence is a day on which Catholics fourteen years or older are required to abstain from eating meat (under the current discipline in America, fish, eggs, milk products, and condiments or foods made using animal fat are permitted in the Western Rite of the Church, though not in the Eastern Rites.) Again, persons with special dietary needs can easily be dispensed by their pastor.
Q: Is there a biblical basis for abstaining from meat as a sign of repentance?
A: Yes. The book of Daniel states:
"In the third year of Cyrus king of Persia . . . 'I, Daniel, mourned for three weeks. I ate no choice food; no meat or wine touched my lips; and I used no lotions at all until the three weeks were over.'" (Daniel 10:1-3)
Q: Isn't abstaining from meat one of the "doctrines of demons" Paul warned about in 1 Timothy 4:1-5?
A: Short answer: Not unless Daniel was practicing a doctrine of demons.
Long answer: When Paul warned of those who "forbid people to marry and order them to abstain from certain foods" he has in mind people with the Manichean belief that marital relations is wrong and certain foods, like meat, are intrinsically immoral. (Thus, the spiritual ideal for many modern New Agers is a celibate vegetarian, as in the Eastern religions.)
We know that Paul has in mind those who teach marital relations and certain foods are intrinsically immoral because he tells us that these are "foods which God created to be received with thanksgiving by those who believe and who know the truth. For everything God created is good, and nothing is to be rejected if it is received with thanksgiving, because it is consecrated by the word of God and prayer" (1 Tim. 4:3b-5).
Marital relations and all kinds of food are good things (which is why the Catholic Church has Marriage for a sacrament and heartily recommends the practice of eating to its members), and this is precisely why it is fitting for them to be given up as part of a spiritual discipline. Thus Daniel gave up meat (as well as wine, another symbol of rejoicing) and Paul endorses the practice of temporary celibacy to engage in a special spiritual discipline of increased prayer (1 Corinthians 7:5). By giving up good things and denying them to ourselves we encourage an attitude of humility, free ourselves from dependence on them, cultivate the spiritual discipline of being willing to make personal sacrifices, and remind ourselves of the importance of spiritual goods over earthly goods.
In fact, if there was an important enough purpose, Paul recommended permanently giving up marriage and meat. Thus, he himself was celibate (1 Corinthians 7:8), he recommended the same for ministers (2 Timothy 2:3-4), and he recommended it for the unmarried so they can devote themselves more fully to the Lord (1 Corinthians 7:32-34) unless doing so would subject them to great temptations (1 Cointhians 7:9). Similarly, he recommended giving up meat permanently if it would prevent others from sinning (1 Corinthians 8:13).
Thus Paul certainly had nothing against celibacy or giving up meat -- even on a permanent basis -- so long as one wasn't saying that these things are intrinsically evil, which is what he was condemning the "doctrines of demons" passage.
Since the Catholic Church only requires abstinence from meat on a temporary basis, it clearly does not regard meat as immoral. Instead, it regards it as the giving up of a good thing (which in less economically developed regions -- including the whole world until very recently -- was expensive and thus eaten at festive occasions, making it a sign of rejoicing) to attain a spiritual goal.
Q: On what basis does the Church have the authority to establish days of fast and abstinence?
A: On the authority of Jesus Christ. 
Jesus told the leaders of his Church, "Whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven" (Matthew 16:19, 18:18). The language of binding and loosing (in part) was a rabinnic way of referring to the ability to establish binding halakah or rules of conduct for the faith community. It is thus especially appropriate that the references to binding and loosing occur in Matthew, the "Jewish Gospel." Thus the Jewish Encyclopedia states:
"BINDING AND LOOSING (Hebrew, asar ve-hittir) . . . Rabinnical term for 'forbidding and permitting.' . . .
"The power of binding and loosing as always claimed by the Pharisees. Under Queen Alexandra the Pharisees, says Josephus (Wars of the Jews 1:5:2), 'became the administrators of all public affairs so as to be empowered to banish and readmit whom they pleased, as well as to loose and to bind.' . . . The various schools had the power 'to bind and to loose'; that is, to forbid and to permit (Talmud: Chagigah 3b); and they could also bind any day by declaring it a fast-day ( . . . Talmud: Ta'anit 12a . . . ). This power and authority, vested in the rabbinical body of each age of the Sanhedrin, received its ratification and final sanction from the celestial court of justice (Sifra, Emor, 9; Talmud: Makkot 23b).
"In this sense Jesus, when appointing his apostles to be his successors, used the familiar formula (Matt. 16:19, 18:18). By these words he virtually invested them with the same authority as that which he found belonging to the scribes and Pharisees who 'bind heavy burdens and lay them on men's shoulders, but will not move them with one of their fingers'; that is 'loose them,' as they have the power to do (Matt. 23:2-4). In the same sense the second epistle of Clement to James II ('Clementine Homilies,' Introduction [A.D. 221]), Peter is represented as having appointed Clement as his successor, saying: 'I communicate to him the power of binding and loosing so that, with respect to everything which he shall ordain in the earth, it shall be decreed in the heavens; for he shall bind what ought to be bound and loose what ought to be loosed as knowing the rule of the Church.'" (Jewish Encyclopedia 3:215).
Thus Jesus invested the leaders of this Church with the power of making halakah for the Christian community. This includes the setting of fast days (like Ash Wednesday).
To approach the issue from another angle, every family has the authority to establish particular family devotions for its members. Thus if the parents decide that the family will engage in a particular devotion at a particular time (say, Bible reading after supper), it is a sin for the children to disobey and skip the devotion for no good reason. In the same way, the Church as the family of God has the authority to establish its own family devotion, and it is a sin for the members of the Church to disobey and skip the devotions for no good reason (though of course if the person has a good reason, the Church dispenses him immediately).
Q: In addition to Ash Wednesday, are any other days during Lent days of fast or abstinence?
A: Yes. All Fridays during Lent are days of abstinence (no meat).  Also, Good Friday, the day on which Christ was crucified, is another day of both fast and abstinence.
All days in Lent are appropriate for fasting or abstaining, but canon law does not require fasting on those days. Such fasting or abstinence is voluntary, like a freewill offering.
Q: Why are Fridays during Lent days of abstinence (no meat)?
A: This is because Jesus died for our sins on Friday, making it an especially appropriate day of mourning our sins (just as Sunday, the day on which he rose for our salvation is an especially appropriate day to rejoice) by denying ourselves something we enjoy. During the rest of the year Catholics in this country are permitted to use a different act of penance on Friday in place of abstinence, though all Fridays are days of penance on which we are required to do something expressing sorrow for our sins, just as Sundays are holy days on which we are required to worship and celebrate God's great gift of salvation.
Q: Why do we ‘abstain’ from meat on Fridays?  And why can we eat fish?
Some reasoning is that since the Flesh of Christ died on the Cross, we mourn this reality by refraining from meat.  Also, meat is traditionally considered feasting, so it is not eaten during a time of penance.  We do this on Fridays, since Jesus died on a Friday.
Fish is eaten because it is not a beast of the field and does not ‘chew its cud,’ thus separating it from regular meat associations.
Q: Why do we ‘fast’ on certain days in Lent and encouraged to do so throughout the year?
Many persons and peoples in the Bible would fast in preparation and purification for special moments, even for war.  Jesus himself fasted.  He also said, “some evil spirits can only be driven out with prayer and fasting.” (Mark 9:29)  Denying ourselves food, the most primal and powerful drive within us, opens us up to God and others and strengthens us to do the difficult things of life.
Q: Are acts of repentance appropriate on other days during Lent?
A: Yes. Thus the Code of Canon Law (Church Law) states:
"All Fridays through the year and the time of Lent are penitential days and time throughout the universal Church" (CIC 1250).
Q: Why are acts of repentance appropriate at this time of year?
A: Because it is the time leading up to the commemoration of Our Lord's death for our sins and the commemoration of his resurrection for our salvation.  It is thus especially appropriate to mourn the sins for which he died.  Humans have an innate psychological need to mourn tragedies, and our sins are tragedies of the greatest sort.  Due to our fallen nature (original sin from Adam and Eve), humans also have a need to have set times in which to engage in behavior (which is why we have Sundays as a set time to rest and worship, since we would otherwise be likely to forget to devote sufficient time to rest and worship), it is appropriate to have set times of repentance.  Lent is one of those set times.
Q: What are some appropriate things to do during Lent?
Giving up something we enjoy for Lent, doing of physical or spiritual acts of mercy for others, prayer, fasting, almsgiving, abstinence (no meat), confessing our sins, and other acts expressing repentance in general. 
Q: Is the custom of giving up something for Lent mandatory?
A: No. However, it is a salutary (beneficial, healthy) custom, and parents or caretakers may choose to require it of their children to encourage their spiritual training, which is their prime responsibility in the raising of their children.
Q: Since Sundays are not counted in the forty days of Lent, does the custom of giving up something apply to them?
A: Customarily, no.  However, since the giving up of something is voluntary to begin with, there is no official rule concerning this aspect of it.  Nevertheless, since Sundays are days of celebration, it is appropriate to suspend the Lenten self-denial on them that, in a spiritual and non-excessive way, we may celebrate the day of Our Lord's resurrection so that that day and that event may be contrasted with the rest of the days of Lent and the rest of the events of history.  This heightened contrast deepens the spiritual lessons taught by the rest of Lent.
Q: Why is giving up something for Lent such a salutary custom?
A: By denying ourselves something we enjoy, we discipline our wills so that we are not slaves to our pleasures.  Just as indulging the pleasure of eating leads to physical flabbiness and, if this is great enough, an inability to perform in physically demanding situations, indulging in pleasure in general leads to spiritual flabbiness and, if this is great enough, an inability to perform in spiritual demanding situations, when the demands of morality require us to sacrifice something pleasurable (such as marital relations before marriage or not within the confines of marriage) or endure hardship (such as being scorned or persecuted for the faith).  By disciplining the will to refuse pleasures when they are not sinful, a habit is developed which allows the will to refuse pleasures when they are sinful.  There are few better ways to keep one's priorities straight than by periodically denying ourselves things of lesser priority to show us that they are not necessary and so to focus our attention on what is necessary.
 
 
Q: Is the denying of pleasure an end in itself?
A: No. It is only a means to an end.  By training ourselves to resist temptations when they are not sinful, we train ourselves to reject temptations when they are sinful.  We also express our sorrow over having failed to resist sinful temptations in the past.
Q: Is there such a thing as denying ourselves too many pleasures?
A: Most definitely. First, God made human life contingent on certain goods, such as food, and to refuse to enjoy enough of them has harmful consequences. For example, if we do not eat enough food it can cause physical damage or (in the extreme, even death). Just as there is a balance between eating too much food and not eating enough food, there is a balance involved in other goods.
Second, if we do not strike the right balance and deny ourselves goods God meant us to have then it can generate resentment toward God, which is a spiritual sin just as much as those of engaging in excesses of good things. Thus, one can be led into sin either by excess or by defect in the enjoyment of good things.
Third, it can decrease our effectiveness in ministering to others.
Fourth, it can deprive us of the goods God gave us in order that we might praise Him.
Fifth, it constitutes the sin of ingratitude by refusing to enjoy the things God wanted us to have because He loves us.  If a child refused every gift his parent gave him, it would displease the parent, and if we refuse gifts God has given us, it displeases God because he loves us and wants us to have them.
Q: Is that balance the same for all people?
A: No.  For example, with the good of food, people who are by nature physically larger need more food than people who are physically smaller.  Similarly, people who have higher metabolisms or who do manual labor for a living need more food than people with slower metabolisms or who have less active lifestyles.  The same is true with regard to other goods than food.  St. Paul speaks of this in regard to the good of married life:
"I wish that all were as I myself am. But each has his own special gift from God, one of one kind and one of another. To the unmarried and the widows I say that it is well for them to remain single as I do. But if they cannot exercise self-control, they should marry. For it is better to marry than to be aflame with passion" (1 Corinthians 7:7-9).
Thus, some are given the gift of being able to live without the good of married life in order that they may pursue greater devotion to God (1 Cor. 7:32-34) or to pursue greater ministry for others (2 Timothy 2:3-4), as with priests, monks, and nuns. God gives these people special graces to live the life which they have embraced, just as he gives special graces to the married to live the life they have embraced.

OFFICE FOR THE LITURGICAL CELEBRATIONS OF THE SUPREME PONTIFF Presents
THE WAY OF THE CROSS
In the Christian West few pious practices are as loved as the Way of the Cross, a devotion which recalls with mindful affection the last stage of the journey that Jesus walked in his earthly life: from when he and his disciples, « after psalms had been sung, left for the Mount of Olives» (Mk 14, 26), until the Lord was taken to the « place called Golgotha, The Skull » (Mk 15, 22), to be crucified and then buried in a garden nearby, in a new tomb hewn out of the rock.
A way traced by the Spirit
The life of Jesus is a journey traced by the Spirit: at the beginning of the mission the Spirit leads him into the desert (cf. Lk 4, 1); and then, as a divine fire burning in his breast, drives him to walk the way to Calvary (cf. Lk 12, 49-50).
The last stage of the journey is unspeakably hard and painful. The evangelists lingered, although with moderation, over the description of the Way of the Cross which the Son of God and Son of man walked out of love for the Father and for humanity. Each step of Jesus is one step closer to the accomplishment of the plan of salvation: to the hour of universal forgiveness (cf. Lk 23, 34), the pierced Heart – the opening of an inextinguishable fountain of grace - (cf. Jn 19, 34), the immolation of the true Paschal Lamb, of whom not one bone will be broken (cf. Jn 19, 36), the gift of the Mother (cf. Jn 19, 26-27) and of the Spirit (cf. Mt 27, 50). Every new suffering of Jesus is a seed of future joy for humanity, every jeer, a premise of glory. Along that way of suffering Jesus' every meeting - with friends, with enemies, with the indifferent - is a chance for one final lesson, one last look, one supreme offer of reconciliation and peace.
A Way loved by the Church
The Church has always kept alive the memory of the words and the events of the last days of her Spouse and Lord, a loving although painful memory of the path Jesus walked from the Mount of Olives to the Mount of Calvary. The Church knows in fact that in every episode which happened on that Way lies hidden a mystery of grace, a gesture of his love for her. The Church is aware that in the Eucharist her Lord left her the objective, sacramental memory of the Body broken and the Blood shed on the hill of Golgotha. However she also loves the historical memory of the places where Christ suffered, the streets and the stones bathed in his sweat and in his blood.
The Church in Jerusalem showed her love for the « holy places » very early on. Archaeological findings prove the existence of expressions of Christian worship in the burial grounds where the tomb used for Christ had been hewn out of the rock, as early as the second century. At the end of the fourth century a pilgrim woman named Aetheria tells us of three holy buildings on the hill of Golgotha: the Anastasis, the little church ad Crucem, and the great church – the Martyrium (cf. Peregrinatio Etheriae 30). And she describes a procession from the Anastasis to theMartyrium which took place on certain days. This was certainly not a Way of the Cross or a Via Dolorosa, nor was the via sacra, a sort of walking tour of the shrines in Jerusalem, alluded to in various chronicles written by pilgrims of the fifth and sixth centuries. However that procession, with its chanting of psalms and close connection with the places of the Passion, is considered by some scholars an embryonic form of the future Way of the Cross.
Jerusalem is the city of the historical Way of the Cross. It is the only city with this great, tragic privilege. In the Middle Ages the attraction of the « holy places » gave rise to a desire to reproduce them locally: some pilgrims on returning from Jerusalem reproduced them in their own city. The Seven Churches of the Santo Stefano complex in Bologna are considered the most remarkable example of these « reproductions ».
A medieval devotion
The Way of the Cross, as we understand the term today, dates to the late Middle Ages. Saint Bernard of Clairvaux (+ 1153), Saint Francis of Assisi (+ 1226) and Saint Bonaventure of Bagnoregio (+ 1274), with their loving, contemplative devotion, prepared the ground on which the devout practice was to develop.
To a spirit of compassionate devotion for the mystery of the Passion we must add the enthusiasm aroused by the Crusades launched to regain possession of the Holy Sepulchre, a new flourishing of pilgrimages from the twelfth century onwards, and, from 1233, the stable presence of the Franciscan Friars minor in the Holy Places.
Towards the end of the thirteenth century we find mention of the Stations of the Cross, not yet as a pious practice, but as the path which Jesus walked on his way up to Mount Calvary marked by a series of « stations ».
Around 1294 the Dominican friar Rinaldo de Monte Crucis, in his Liber peregrinationis, tells how he went up to the Holy Sepulchre «per viam, per quam ascendit Christus, baiulans sibi crucem », describing the different stations: Herod's Palace, the Lithostratos, where Jesus was condemned to death, the place where Jesus met the women of Jerusalem, the place where Simon of Cyrene shouldered the Lord's cross, and so forth.
Against the a background of devotion to the Passion of Christ, and recalling the path Jesus walked on his ascent to Mount Calvary, The Stations of the Cross as a pious practice was born directly from a sort of fusion of three devotions which spread mainly in Germany and in the Netherlands from the fifteenth century onwards:
- devotion to «Christ's falls » beneath the cross; as many as seven were numbered;
- devotion to « Christ's way of sorrow», which involved making a procession from one church to the next in memory of the way of sorrow - seven, nine and even more -, which Christ walked during his passion: from Gethsemane to the house of Annas (cf. Jn 18, 13), from the latter to the house of Caiaphas (cf. Jn 18, 24; Mt 26, 56), then on to the Praetorium of Pilate (cf. Jn 18, 28; Mt 27, 2), to the palace of King Herod (cf. Lk 23, 7) ...;
- devotion to the «the stations of Christ», to the moments when Jesus stops on his journey to the hill of Calvary either because he is forced to do so by his executioners or because he is exhausted from fatigue, or because, moved by love, he is still anxious to establish a dialogue with the men and the women who participate in his passion; often « sorrowful ways » and « stations » correspond in number and subject (each « way » concludes with a « station ») and the latter are marked with a column or a cross on which the scene, the subject of meditation, is at times depicted.
Variety of the Stations 
In the long formation process of The Way of the Cross two elements should be noted: the fluctuation of the « First Station » and the variety of Stations.
With regard to the earliest Stations of the Cross, historians record at least four episodes chosen as the «First Station »:
- Jesus takes leave of his Mother; this « First Station » would appear to have been less popular, probably due to its difficult biblical grounding;
- The Washing of the Feet; this « First Station », set in the event of the Last Supper and the institution of the Eucharist, is found in some Stations of the Cross of the second half of the seventeenth century, which were very popular;
- The Agony in Gethsemane, the Garden of Olives, where in last loving obedience to the Father Jesus chooses to drink the chalice of his Passion to the last drop, was the initial Station of a brief seventeenth century set of Stations of the Cross - consisting of only seven -, noteworthy for its biblical rigour, and popularised principally by members of the Society of Jesus;
- The condemnation of Jesus in the Praetorium of Pilate, a rather early « First Station » which effectively marks the beginning of the final stage of Jesus' sorrowful way: from the Praetorium to the Hill of Calvary.
The subject of the stations also varied. In the fifteenth century great diversity in the choice, number and order of stations still prevailed. Some schemas of Way of the Cross include stations such as the capture of Jesus, Peter's denial, the scourging at the pillar, the defamatory accusations at the house of Caiaphas, the mockery of the white robe at Herod's palace, none of which are found in what was to become the textus receptus of the pious practice.
The traditional form 
The Way of the Cross or Via Crucis, in its present form, with the same fourteen stations placed in the same order, is recorded in Spain in the first half of the seventeenth century especially in Franciscan communities. From the Iberian peninsula it spread first to Sardinia, at that time under the dominion of the Spanish crown and then toItaly. Here it found a convinced and effective apostle in Saint Leonard of Port Maurice (+ 1751), a friar minor and a tireless missionary; he personally erected more than 572 Via Crucis, including the famous one erected inside the Colosseum at the request of Benedict XIV on 27 December 1750 to commemorate the Holy Year.
The biblical form
Every year on the evening of Good Friday, the Holy Father goes to the Colosseum for the pious practice of the Way of the Cross, joined by thousands of pilgrims from all over the world.
Compared with the traditional text, the biblical Way of the Cross celebrated by the Holy Father at the Colosseum for the first time in 1991 presented certain variants in the «subjects» of the stations. In the light of history, these variants, rather than new, are - if anything - simply rediscovered.
The biblical Way of the Cross omits stations which lack precise biblical reference such as the Lord's three falls (III, V, VII), Jesus' encounter with his Mother (IV) and with Veronica (VI). Instead we have stations such as Jesus' agony in the Garden of Olives (I), the unjust sentence passed by Pilate (V), the promise of paradise to the Good Thief (XI), the presence of the Mother and the Disciple at the foot of the Cross (XIII). Clearly these episodes are of great salvific import and theological significance for the drama of Christ's passion: an ever-present drama in which every man and woman, knowingly or unknowingly, plays a part.
The proposal is not entirely new. Pilgrims arriving in Rome for the Jubilee of 1975 received a small handbook, Libro del pellegrino, prepared by the Central Committee for the Holy Year, which included an alternative version of the Stations of the Cross, with which in part, the 1991 biblical Via Crucis takes up.
Likewise, the Congregation for Divine Worship on various occasions in recent years authorised the use of formulas alternative to the traditional text of the Way of the Cross.
With the biblical Way of the Cross the intention was not to change the traditional text, which remains fully valid, but quite simply to highlight a few «important stations» which in the textus receptus are either absent or in the background. And indeed this only emphasises the extraordinary richness of the Way of the Cross which no schema can ever fully express.
The biblical Way of the Cross sheds light on the tragic role of the various characters involved, and the struggle between light and darkness, between truth and falsehood, which they embody. They all participate in the mystery of the Passion, taking a stance for or against Jesus, the «sign of contradiction» (Lk 2, 34), and thus revealing their hidden thoughts with regard to Christ.
Making the Way of the Cross, we, the followers of Jesus, must declare once more our discipleship: weeping like Peter for sins committed; opening our hearts to faith in Jesus the suffering Messiah, like the Good Thief; remaining there at the foot of the Cross of Christ like the Mother and the Disciple, and there with them receiving the Word which redeems, the Blood which purifies, the Spirit which gives life.


PIERO MARINI, Titular Archbishop of Martirano
Master of the Liturgical Celebrations of the Supreme Pontiff





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Catholic Term of the Week
 
Saint Valentine
- name of a Roman Christian who according to tradition was martyred during the persecution of Christians by Emperor Claudius II
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My brother Michael and I have always been close, but it wasn't until the last 10 years that we have become best friends. This true brotherhood has had an immeasurable impact on us, as our journey towards Christian maturity has been a shared experience. It was early on in this journey, in the fall of 2004, when Mike introduced me to the Theology of The Body (TOB). It was also at this time that my bother decided that God was calling him to enter the seminary to further discern a vocation to the priesthood. He always told me that I would find myself by diving deeply into these rich teachings and, if my vocation was to a life of marriage, that God would be forming a woman with a similar love for the truth of our sexuality revealed through Theology of The Body (TOB).
 
At around this very same time, a young musician in Nashville was also discovering TOB for the first time. For the next five years, Colleen McCarron and I would independently develop a love for this dynamic teaching from our late Holy Father, as we would continue to mature into the man and woman God had created us to be. It was not until the summer of 2008, when Colleen came home to Tallahassee for the summer, that we would really get to know each other and develop what we now know is a lifelong friendship. Colleen had decided to give the Lord a year of her life as a “dating-fast,” meaning she would not date for an entire 12 month period in order to discern God's direction in her life more clearly. The “dating-fast” started only two months prior to her coming home that summer and what would seem like terrible timing for any guy meeting an incredible woman, instead provided an incredible opportunity for us to grow in a purely brother and sister type of friendship. Through bike rides, basketball, and many casual conversations, we realized what a profound unity we had in our love of Theology of the Body, and the truth it revealed about our bodies! Once the summer ended, and Colleen and I went our separate ways, we decided God was calling us to write letters as our only source of communication, at least until the dating-fast had consummated. This time provided an incredible period of purification and sacrifice. By the time the dating-fast had ended, it was clear not only that God was calling us to date, but also that we were called to lay down our lives for one another in marriage.
 
I always knew that the woman God would call me to marry would also find an incredible brother in Michael. The neat thing about Colleen and my relationship was that we also continued to develop a deep love for Michael and his vocation to the priesthood, as he continued his journey towards ordination. Michael continued to encourage us in our pursuit of the truth contained within the TOB. He attended both TOB I and II with the Theology of the Body Institute, and often prayed that we, too, would have an opportunity to attend. God opened the doors for us in March of 2010, and Colleen and I attended the TOB I course, with Colleen also serving as the music minister for the week. 
 
The Lord knew that this would be perfect timing for us, as our wedding date was just a few short months away. It was during this week that the Lord showed us the depth of the reality that we were first brother and sister, before husband and wife. This reality had begun when we first met, through our initial friendship, and continued to mature into our spousal union. What a beautiful reality this is! Through this truth, God unveiled the reason why we were so closely united to my brother Michael, who was about to be ordained a Priest, hence being also a Father to us! We shared, through our marriage, in the reality of his priestly Fatherhood. Woah! 
 
It was also at the TOB I course that we were led to choose the readings for our wedding Mass. We clearly felt God calling us to have the Passion narrative, as told in the Gospel of John, proclaimed as our Gospel. Father Michael, ordained just 21 days before the wedding, was the celebrant of our wedding Mass. What a glorious day this was! 
 
An excerpt from Father Michael's Homily:

Our gospel today is what this is all about. This is the first wedding I've been to that the Passion narrative of Jesus' death was the gospel reading. But it is so incredibly fitting that we hear about the love poured out for us, what it actually cost Jesus. And we recognize that it cost Him everything. He did it not out of constraint, not out of obligation, but because He loves us. And Tai and Colleen, you are showing us that love. We weren't at the crucifixion; we weren't at that moment, but as we celebrate this marriage we have a glimpse, we have a taste. We have a taste of that moment when Jesus Christ poured Himself out completely for the one He loved, for the moment on the cross was the consummation of our marriage with God.
 
On June 26th of 2010, our wedding mass was a beautiful witness to the transforming power of the Theology of the Body. As Colleen and I gazed into the eternity of one another's eyes, we vowed to enter into the mystery of Matrimony. Just above us stood our priest and brother, a man also transformed by the good news of the Gospel proclaimed through the TOB. Through our different vocations, we can see in each other the truth of this teaching lived out every day.
 
Titus and Colleen Nixon live in Jacksonville, Florida and are expecting their first child this Spring. Titus works for Fraternus, a Catholic organization mentoring boys into virtuous Catholic men (http://www.fraternus.net/). Colleen is a professional musician. You can preview some of Colleen's music at http://www.colleennixon.com/ and http://www.mysteriumonline.com/.


"God who created man out of love also calls him to love the fundamental and innate vocation of every human being. For man is created in the image and likeness of God who is himself love. Since God created him man and woman, their mutual love becomes an image of the absolute and unfailing love with which God loves man. It is good, very good, in the Creator's eyes. And this love which God blesses is intended to be fruitful and to be realized in the common work of watching over creation: "And God blessed them, and God said to them: 'Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth and subdue it.'" -Catechism of the Catholic Church #1604
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One can sin against God's love in various ways: 
- indifference neglects or refuses to reflect on divine charity;
it fails to consider its prevenient goodness and denies its power.
- ingratitude fails or refuses to acknowledge divine charity and to return him love for love.
- lukewarmness is hesitation or negligence in responding to divine love;
it can imply refusal to give oneself over to the prompting of charity.
- acedia or spiritual sloth goes so far as to refuse the joy that comes from God and to be repelled by divine goodness.
- hatred of God comes from pride. It is contrary to love of God, whose goodness it denies,
and whom it presumes to curse as the one who forbids sins and inflicts punishments. 
-Catechism of the Catholic Church #2094


 


+JMJ+
SUNDAY MASS READINGS AND QUESTIONS
for Self-Reflection, Couples or Family Discussion
6th Sunday in Ordinary Time – Sunday, February 14th, 2021

The First Reading - Leviticus 13:1-2,44-46
The LORD said to Moses and Aaron, “If someone has on his skin a scab or pustule or blotch which appears to be the sore of leprosy, he shall be brought to Aaron, the priest, or to one of the priests among his descendants. If the man is leprous and unclean, the priest shall declare him unclean by reason of the sore on his head. “The one who bears the sore of leprosy shall keep his garments rent and his head bare, and shall muffle his beard; he shall cry out, ‘Unclean, unclean!’ As long as the sore is on him he shall declare himself unclean, since he is in fact unclean. He shall dwell apart, making his abode outside the camp.”
Reflection 
The book of Leviticus was written primarily for the priests of Israel, the Levites. It draws together various bodies of law and ritual, starting with the laws concerning the Levites themselves; and in fact this book becomes a manual for conducting the liturgy. 
Adults - Take some time to look into the liturgical practices of the Old Testament and consider how our own practices have developed from there.
Teens - Why are rules important? How do they help keep us safe?
Kids - How do God’s laws show His love for us?

Responsorial- Psalm 32:1-2,5,11 
R. I turn to you, Lord, in time of trouble, and you fill me with the joy of salvation.
Blessed is he whose fault is taken away,
    whose sin is covered.
Blessed the man to whom the LORD imputes not guilt,
    in whose spirit there is no guile.
R. I turn to you, Lord, in time of trouble, and you fill me with the joy of salvation.
Then I acknowledged my sin to you,
    my guilt I covered not.
I said, “I confess my faults to the LORD,”
    and you took away the guilt of my sin.
R. I turn to you, Lord, in time of trouble, and you fill me with the joy of salvation.
Be glad in the LORD and rejoice, you just;
    exult, all you upright of heart.
R. I turn to you, Lord, in time of trouble, and you fill me with the joy of salvation.
Reflection 
The Lord promises peace that is not of this world when we turn to Him.  Do you turn to God when you are facing trials?

The Second Reading- 1 Corinthians 10:31-11:1
Brothers and sisters, Whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do everything for the glory of God. Avoid giving offense, whether to the Jews or Greeks or the church of God, just as I try to please everyone in every way, not seeking my own benefit but that of the many, that they may be saved. Be imitators of me, as I am of Christ.
Reflection -  In everything a Christian does they should seek the glory of God by always acting with the best of intentions. Each person is morally responsible not only for their own actions, but also for the influence their behavior has on the good or bad actions of others.  
 -What does it mean to live life as an example of the Body of Christ?

The Holy Gospel according to Mark 1:40-45
A leper came to Jesus and kneeling down begged him and said, “If you wish, you can make me clean.”  Moved with pity, he stretched out his hand, touched him, and said to him, “I do will it.  Be made clean.”  The leprosy left him immediately, and he was made clean.  Then, warning him sternly, he dismissed him at once.  He said to him, “See that you tell no one anything, but go, show yourself to the priest and offer for your cleansing what Moses prescribed; that will be proof for them.”  The man went away and began to publicize the whole matter.  He spread the report abroad so that it was impossible for Jesus to enter a town openly.  He remained outside in deserted places, and people kept coming to him from everywhere.
Reflection  This miracle illustrates Jesus’ power to save even those excluded from Israel by the Mosaic Law. Why did He touch him, since the Law forbade the touching of a leper? He touched him to show that ‘all things are clean to the clean’ (Titus 1:15). Because the filth that is in one person does not adhere to others, nor does external uncleanness defile the clean of heart. So He touches him in his untouchability, that He might instruct us in humility; that He might teach us that we should despise no one, or abhor them or regard them as pitiable, because of some wound on their body or some blemish for which they might be called to render an account.” [Origen (ca. A.D. 245), The Healing Of The Leper]  Also, like the leper, we are to approach Jesus in humility and shame because we have allowed sin to stain our baptismal garment. Shame should not prevent us from confessing; the leper showed Jesus his sores and begged to be healed. Likewise, we must approach Jesus in the sacrament of reconciliation by putting aside our pride, confessing our sins, and experiencing His healing.
Adults - Have you been guilty of gossip or passing judgement on the worth of another? How can you keep from this in the future?
Teens - What should we do when we are tempted to gossip or slander?
Kids - Pray a prayer of thanksgiving to the Lord for loving each of His children completely and equally.

LIVING THE WORD OF GOD THIS WEEK!  - Thanks be to God, for his infinite compassion! Thanks be to God, for Christ his Son, who came and dwelt amongst us! He put heaven and a share in the life of God within our reach; he has shown us how to attain them, giving in his Church and the sacraments, all the necessary aids. But we still need all of Christ's compassion if we are to get there. Because of our inclination to sin and because of the many times we unfortunately give in to that inclination, nothing but the mercy of God can save us from our own folly. However, that mercy is available, if only we ask for it. What we sinners need is the faith and confidence of the leper in today's gospel reading. He believed firmly in the power and the mercy of Jesus. "If you will, you can make me clean," was his approach to Jesus. — Excerpted from The Sunday Readings by Fr. Kevin O'Sullivan, O.F.M
Let us call upon Jesus this week for every area our lives that needs to be made clean!

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Catholic Good News

Receiving the Gospel, Serving God and Neighbor
 
SILENCE-Inside and Outside

"When he broke open the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven
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for about half an hour."  Revelation 8:1
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Dear friends in Christ Jesus,
 
On the subject of Lent, the Pope indicated that "it should also be a time to abstain from words and images, because we have need of a little silence. We need to create a space free from the constant bombardment of images, ... a silent space for ourselves, without images, in order to open our hearts to the true image, the true Word".
 
We live in such a noisy world: car radio; music while on hold; talking here and there; our own minds racing with worries, deadlines, and more…it is no wonder people wonder where God is or even if He exists at all.
 
"In the eternal silences of the Holy Trinity, God spoke one Word, and He had nothing more to say."
 
 
The one Word is JESUS CHRIST!  Yet God still communicates with us through the silence.  Yet, we must bring about silence inside and outside ourselves that we might be able to listen.  St. Mother Teresa of Calcutta offers:
 
"If we really want to pray, we must first learn to listen, for in the silence of the heart, God speaks. Jesus spent thirty years out of thirty-three in silence, began His public life by spending forty days in silence, and often retired alone to spend the night on a mountain in silence.  He who spoke with authority, now spends His earthly life in silence. Let us adore Jesus in His Eucharistic silence!
Yes, Jesus is always waiting for us in silence.  In that silence He will listen to us, there He will speak to our soul, and there we will hear His voice.  Interior silence is very difficult, but we must make the effort.  In silence we will find new energy and true unity. The energy of God will be ours to do all things well. We will find the true unity of our thoughts with His thoughts, the unity of our prayers with His prayers, the unity of our actions with His actions, and the unity of our life with His life."
 
Why wait until the next time you go to Adoration, enter the inner silence of prayer now to find true unity with HIM!
 
Peace and prayers in Jesus through Mary, loved by Saint Joseph,
Father Robert


P.S.  This coming Sunday is the 5th Sunday of Ordinary Time.  The readings can be found at:  Fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time | USCCB



P.S.S.  Please look to the end of the e-weekly for Reflections and Questions on the Sunday Readings.

​

​THE SACRAMENT OF CONFIRMATION 
265. What place does Confirmation have in the divine plan of salvation? (Catechism of the Catholic Church, CCC 1285-1288, 1315)  
a) there is nothing connected with it in the Old Testament  
b) Old Testament prophets announced the Spirit on the Messiah  
c) the Holy Spirit was just for the Apostles  
d) none of the above  
 
266. Why is this sacrament called Chrismation or Confirmation? (CCC 1289)  
a) because it is an anointing with chrism  
b) because it is the confirming of baptismal grace  
c) because it is strengthens baptismal grace  
d) all of the above  


267. What is the essential rite of Confirmation? (CCC 1290-1301, 1318, 1320-1321)  
a) choosing a Confirmation name  
b) having the perfect sponsor  
c) “Be sealed with the gift of the Holy Spirit”  
d) speaking in tongues while being prayed over  

"Helpful Hints of Life"

​

 
I once was visiting a beautiful home, finely furnished with exquisite furniture, lovely artwork and impeccable décor. However, the heavy draperies around the windows blocked most of the natural light in the rooms, and left an atmosphere of heaviness and, quite frankly, suffocation. Although the home was beautiful I couldn't wait to leave and enjoy the freshness and plainness of the light and air outside.
 
I can't help but think, as we enter into this season of Lent, about the "heaviness," the complications of everyday life, that have the potential to snuff out the fresh light and air of Christ in our lives.
 
What am I talking about? I'm talking about living simply. Obviously Lent is a time for penance, reflection, renewal. It's a time for introspection and consideration of things eternal. What I'm proposing this Lent is paring down life, getting rid of the 'heavy draperies' so that things eternal can shine into our daily thoughts and lives.
 
How can simplicity of life be accomplished? I'm going to offer a formula set forth by philosopher and professor Peter Kreeft in his classic 1990 book, Making Choices: Practical Wisdom for Everyday Moral Decisions. (It's rated a full five stars on Amazon.com. Buy it there or at your local Catholic bookstore. I promise you won't be disappointed.)
 
First, attain mastery over time. The clock should not be our god. It is true we need to watch the clock to make it to work, keep our dentist appointments, and get to Mass on time. However, American society is too focused on schedules. Take time to get at eye level with your child and really listen. Make time for 'date night' with your mate. Do one thing at a time. Do not worry about work when you are home with your family or your home projects when you are at work. Think about the one thing you are currently doing and do it well. (Kreeft bluntly tells his readers to stop "octopussing" — trying to do eight things at once. I might add that some of us are likely even "jellyfishing." Did you know some jellyfish have hundreds of tentacles?) Slow down and here's the biggie: pray... without watching a clock. God is the creator of time, reminds Kreeft. God can multiply time, but first we must offer our time to Him. And it is good to remember that God cannot be outdone in generosity. He will take our sacrifice and bless us a thousand fold. A good place to start this Lent is going to Confession and attending other Catholic devotions such as Eucharistic Adoration or Stations of the Cross. Like the Nike commercial advocates, "Just do it."
 
Second, live more naturally. Go to bed earlier and get up earlier, following nature's cycle of darkness and light. Kreeft says this aids in simplicity because the things people do in the morning are usually simple things — walking, praying, and tidying up. And the things people do in the evening or more complicating (or time-wasting) — busywork, attending parties, watching television. Spend more time outdoors (yes, even in the winter!) Breathe in the fresh air. And take walks frequently. Kreeft writes, "[When you walk] you will begin to recapture the natural rhythms of the body...It attunes us with the earth and air...It is a symbol of life, the road to eternity... And it gives us an opportunity to think." 
 
Third, recognize that often less is more. Don't just give up sweets this Lent. Take less food. Chew it slowly. Savor its flavor deliberately. Enjoy it more. We've all seen women who have overdone it in the jewelry and make-up departments. They have baubles and beads on every limb, and layers of gold or silver around their necks. Heavy eye shadow and lip color emphasizes their faces. Who can deny that this actually detracts from a woman's natural beauty? Contrast that image with simple cleanliness and light makeup, a plain cross necklace and a pair of simple earrings on a female. One young woman I knew in college gave up make-up for Lent. That's probably considered radical in our American culture, and I don't know very many women who would do that for forty whole days, but it is a good idea to eliminate extra things. Less truly is often more.
 
Fourth, decrease expenses. We don't need half of what we want anyway. Love of money is the root of all evil. See what you can do without.
 
Fifth, embrace silence. Kreeft calls silence "the unknown power source...the great untapped resource." He says that silence is more, not less than noise. Cultivate inner silence by eliminating outer noise. Turn off the television. Skip the radio in the car. Listen more. Talk less. God speaks to us all the time, but often with the cacophonic sounds intruding into our lives we just don't hear Him.
 
Simplifying life truly is like pulling back or even taking down thick draperies in a stuffy, dark room. In removing the fabric that blocks luminosity we will find more light, more freshness, and quite likely more room for God. 
 
Theresa Thomas, a freelance writer and columnist for Today's Catholic resides in northern Indiana with her husband David and their nine children. She has been home schooling since 1994
 
 
"Contemplative prayer is silence, the "symbol of the world to come" or "silent love." Words in this kind of prayer are not speeches; they are like kindling that feeds the fire of love. In this silence, unbearable to the "outer" man, the Father speaks to us his incarnate Word, who suffered, died, and rose; in this silence the Spirit of adoption enables us to share in the prayer of Jesus."  
​-Catechism of the Catholic Church #2717

​

VATICAN CITY— Pope Francis Saturday appointed a Spanish priest and a French religious sister as under-secretaries of the Synod of Bishops.
It is the first time a woman has held a position of this level within the general secretariat of the Synod of Bishops.
Fr. Luis Marín de San Martín and Sr. Nathalie Becquart will replace Bishop Fabio Fabene, who was named secretary of the Congregation for the Causes of the Saints in January.
Working with and under secretary general Bishop Mario Grech, Fr. Marín and Sr. Becquart will prepare the Vatican’s forthcoming synod on synodality, scheduled for October 2022.  
In an interview with Vatican News, Bishop Grech said in this position, Sr. Becquart will vote in future synods alongside other voting members, who are bishops, priests, and some religious men.
During the 2018 youth synod, some people asked why religious and consecrated women could not vote on the synod’s final document.
According to the canonical norms governing synods of bishops, only clerics - that is deacons, priests, or bishops - can be voting members.
Bishop Grech noted Feb. 6 that “during the last Synods, numerous synodal fathers emphasized the need that the entire Church reflect on the place and role of women within the Church.”
“Even Pope Francis highlighted several times the importance that women be more involved in the processes of discernment and decision making in the Church,” he said. “Already in the last synods, the number of women participating as experts or auditors increased. With the appointment of Sr Nathalie Becquart, and the possibility that she will participate with the right to vote, a door has been open,” Grech stated. “We will then see what other steps could be taken in the future.”
Sr. Nathalie Becquart, 51, has been a member of the Congregation of Xavieres since 1995.
She has been one of five consultors, four of whom are women, to the general secretariat of the Synod of Bishops, since 2019.
Because of her extensive background in youth ministry, Sr. Becquart was involved in the preparation for the Synod of Bishops on young people, faith, and vocational discernment in 2018, was general coordinator of a pre-synod meeting, and took part as an auditor. She was the director of the French bishops’ national service for the evangelization of young people and for vocations from 2012 to 2018.
Fr. Marín, 59, is from Madrid, Spain, and a priest of the Order of St. Augustine. He is an assistant general and archivist general of the Augustinians, based out of the order’s general curia in Rome, which is located just outside St. Peter’s Square in Rome.
He is also president of the Institutum Spiritualitatis Augustinianae.
A professor of theology, Fr. Marín has taught at a university and several Augustinian centers in Spain. He has also been a seminary formator, provincial counselor, and prior of a monastery.
As under-secretary of the Synod of Bishops, Fr. Marín will become the titular bishop of the see of Suliana.
Bishop Grech said Fr. Marín “has a vast experience in accompanying communities in decision making processes and his knowledge of the Second Vatican Council will be precious so that the roots of the synodal way remain always present.” He also noted that the appointment of Fr. Marín and Sr. Becquart will “undoubtedly” lead to other changes in the structure of the general secretariat of the Synod of Bishops.
“I would like that the three of us, and all of the staff of the Synod Secretariat, work out of the same spirit of collaboration and experience a new style of ‘synodal’ leadership,” he said, “a leadership of service that is less clerical and hierarchical, that allows participation and co-responsibility without at the same time abdicating the responsibilities entrusted to them.”

She is the oldest person in Europe and the second-oldest person in the world. 117-year-old Japanese woman Kane Tanaka is the only person to surpass her in age.

Born Lucile Randon on Feb. 11, 1904, Sr. André converted to Catholicism at age 19. At age 25, she began caring for elderly and orphans at a French hospital. She later entered the Daughters of Charity at age 40.

Although she joined the convent late in life, her vocation has lasted for 76 years! 
​
Sr. André moved in 2009 to Sainte-Catherine Labouré retirement home in Toulon, France, where she spent her 116th birthday with family and friends.
​

Sister André Randon, Vatican NewsAdditionally, for her 115th birthday, Pope Francis sent her a personal letter, along with a blessed Rosary.

Sr. Andre’s SecretHer secret recipe for happiness?
“Pray and drink a cup of chocolate every day.”
She also said her “daily happiness is being able to go and pray.”
Although blind and in a wheelchair, Sr. André never loses her sense of humor and always asks for prayers, saying that she “hopes God won’t be too slow to let her wait any longer…”





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http://www.ncregister.com/daily-news/despite-grave-problems-the-lord-will-never-abandon-his-church
​

A bit of humor…
​

A Prayer for Silence


Lady, Queen of Heaven,
pray me into solitude and silence and unity,
that all my ways may be immaculate in God.
Let me be content with whatever darkness surrounds me,
finding Him always by me, in His mercy.
Let me keep silence in this world,
except in so far as God wills and in the way he wills it.
Amen.


 -Thomas Merton
 
 
[This is a weekly electronic newsletter from Father Robert, the Pastor of St. Mary Parish and St. Sebastian Parish. This will be sent out weekly. Please recommend this to individuals you think might be interested. Any suggestions or comments are welcomed, or if you wish to no longer receive this please e-mail: Roman.Catholic.Good.News@gmail.com]
 
 
 
Homily from Ash Wednesday


 
[SILENT PAUSE FOR ABOUT 15-20 SECONDS]
 
In the eternal silences of the Trinity God spoke one Word and He had nothing more to  say.
 
Silence…it can be a scary place.  Whether it's in an elevator with someone else you're wondering if you need to say something to break the silence, or you're at the stoplight and you have time before it changes, the silence of a car trip, or whether it's at Mass at some point before or after, there is silence in our lives.  
 
However, most of us are uncomfortable with silence.  We think we have to fill it say with some words, turn on the radio, or think of something to occupy the time as if it is wasted in silence.  Even the short silence that I had before this I heard somebody whispering I saw people looking around.  We don't know what to do with silence, but it is to the silence that we must go to during this Lenten season.  We must find that which is to be found therein, more importantly Whois to be found in the silence.
 
In the silence in the eternal silences of the Trinity God spoke one Word and He had nothing more to say.
 
That one Word is Jesus…Jesus…Jesus.  He who spends Himself in silence…The silence of the Eucharist…The silence of the 40 days in the desert.  The silence of the one who does not speak in the Sacred Scriptures, who is silent until someone speaks them in a word of proclamation.
 
Silence is where you and I must go these 40 days.  Silence must be the place that we strive to penetrate.  It will take courage; it will take faith, but if we do, dear brothers and sisters, we will find Jesus; we will find conversion; we will leave our selfish selves to become the generous givers to God and neighbor and then we will no longer fear the silence, (or any one or anything.)
 
 
"Today a great silence reigns on earth, a great silence and a great stillness. A great silence because the King is asleep. The earth trembled and is still because God has fallen asleep in the flesh and he has raised up all who have slept ever since the world began. . . He has gone to search for Adam, our first father, as for a lost sheep. Greatly desiring to visit those who live in darkness and in the shadow of death, he has gone to free from sorrow Adam in his bonds and Eve, captive with him - He who is both their God and the son of Eve. . . "I am your God, who for your sake have become your son. . . I order you, O sleeper, to awake. I did not create you to be a prisoner in hell. Rise from the dead, for I am the life of the dead."   -Catechism of the Catholic Church #635

​

​A Prayer for Silence

Lady, Queen of Heaven,
pray me into solitude and silence and unity,
that all my ways may be immaculate in God.
Let me be content with whatever darkness surrounds me,
finding Him always by me, in His mercy.
Let me keep silence in this world,
except in so far as God wills and in the way he wills it.
Amen.


 -Thomas Merton
 
 
[This is a weekly electronic newsletter from Father Robert, the Pastor of St. Mary Parish and St. Sebastian Parish. This will be sent out weekly. Please recommend this to individuals you think might be interested. Any suggestions or comments are welcomed, or if you wish to no longer receive this please e-mail: Roman.Catholic.Good.News@gmail.com]
 
 
 
Homily from Ash Wednesday


 
[SILENT PAUSE FOR ABOUT 15-20 SECONDS]
 
In the eternal silences of the Trinity God spoke one Word and He had nothing more to  say.
 
Silence…it can be a scary place.  Whether it's in an elevator with someone else you're wondering if you need to say something to break the silence, or you're at the stoplight and you have time before it changes, the silence of a car trip, or whether it's at Mass at some point before or after, there is silence in our lives.  
 
However, most of us are uncomfortable with silence.  We think we have to fill it say with some words, turn on the radio, or think of something to occupy the time as if it is wasted in silence.  Even the short silence that I had before this I heard somebody whispering I saw people looking around.  We don't know what to do with silence, but it is to the silence that we must go to during this Lenten season.  We must find that which is to be found therein, more importantly Who is to be found in the silence.
 
In the silence in the eternal silences of the Trinity God spoke one Word and He had nothing more to say.
 
That one Word is Jesus…Jesus…Jesus.  He who spends Himself in silence…The silence of the Eucharist…The silence of the 40 days in the desert.  The silence of the one who does not speak in the Sacred Scriptures, who is silent until someone speaks them in a word of proclamation.
 
Silence is where you and I must go these 40 days.  Silence must be the place that we strive to penetrate.  It will take courage; it will take faith, but if we do, dear brothers and sisters, we will find Jesus; we will find conversion; we will leave our selfish selves to become the generous givers to God and neighbor and then we will no longer fear the silence, (or any one or anything.)
 
 
"Today a great silence reigns on earth, a great silence and a great stillness. A great silence because the King is asleep. The earth trembled and is still because God has fallen asleep in the flesh and he has raised up all who have slept ever since the world began. . . He has gone to search for Adam, our first father, as for a lost sheep. Greatly desiring to visit those who live in darkness and in the shadow of death, he has gone to free from sorrow Adam in his bonds and Eve, captive with him - He who is both their God and the son of Eve. . . "I am your God, who for your sake have become your son. . . I order you, O sleeper, to awake. I did not create you to be a prisoner in hell. Rise from the dead, for I am the life of the dead."   -Catechism of the Catholic Church #635




+JMJ+
SUNDAY MASS READINGS AND QUESTIONS
for Self-Reflection, Couples or Family Discussion
5th Sunday in Ordinary Time – Sunday, February 7, 2021
The First Reading - Job 7:1-4, 6-7
Job spoke, saying: Is not man’s life on earth a drudgery? Are not his days those of hirelings? He is a slave who longs for the shade, a hireling who waits for his wages. So I have been assigned months of misery, and troubled nights have been allotted to me. If in bed I say, “When shall I arise?” then the night drags on; I am filled with restlessness until the dawn. My days are swifter than a weaver’s shuttle; they come to an end without hope. Remember that my life is like the wind; I shall not see happiness again. 
Reflection 
The background of the story of Job is this: Job, a pious and blameless man, is perfectly happy and contented. Satan implies to the angels of God’s court that Job’s virtue is not genuine. So, God permits Job to be tested. Blow after blow falls upon Job, depriving him of his possessions and his children. But Job remains faithful, and then is attacked personally; he becomes gravely ill and disfigured. However, he accepts with resignation the physical evil which God sends him, just as he had previously accepted the contentment he enjoyed. Such is Job’s faith that Satan is defeated. But Job’s suffering is so great that he utters a cry of lament (not of despair) when his friends try to console him. Job’s friends consider his suffering to be a punishment for sin, which was the common view at the time, but Job insists that he is blameless. The friends invite him to recognize his fault and beg God’s forgiveness. Although not claiming to be completely free from sin, Job maintains that the suffering is far greater than his faults deserve. Although he knows that God is just, he doesn’t understand why God is sending him all these sufferings. Eventually it is learned that God sends evils and sufferings not only to punish people; their primary purpose is to purify man of his faults and prevent him from committing worse sins.   
Adults - Do you reach out to the Lord when you suffer?
Teens - Sometimes it can seem like God is unaware of our sufferings. This is certainly not the case. Remember to talk to the Lord always - even when you are facing trials.
Kids - How does God help us in times of suffering?  
Responsorial- Psalm 147:1-2, 3-4, 5-6 
R. Praise the Lord, who heals the brokenhearted..
Praise the LORD, for he is good;
    sing praise to our God, for he is gracious;
    it is fitting to praise him.
The LORD rebuilds Jerusalem;
    the dispersed of Israel he gathers.
R. Praise the Lord, who heals the brokenhearted.
He heals the brokenhearted
    and binds up their wounds.
He tells the number of the stars;
    he calls each by name.
R. Praise the Lord, who heals the brokenhearted.
Great is our Lord and mighty in power;
    to his wisdom there is no limit.
The LORD sustains the lowly;
    the wicked he casts to the ground.
R. Praise the Lord, who heals the brokenhearted.
Reflection 
Remember that the Lord is with you always, even in your trials.  How has God healed your heart?
The Second Reading- 1 Corinthians 9:16-19, 22-23
Brothers and sisters: If I preach the gospel, this is no reason for me to boast, for an obligation has been imposed on me, and woe to me if I do not preach it! If I do so willingly, I have a recompense, but if unwillingly, then I have been entrusted with a stewardship. What then is my recompense? That, when I preach, I offer the gospel free of charge so as not to make full use of my right in the gospel. Although I am free in regard to all, I have made myself a slave to all so as to win over as many as possible. To the weak I became weak, to win over the weak. I have become all things to all, to save at least some. All this I do for the sake of the gospel, so that I too may have a share in it.
Reflection -  The Council of Jerusalem, which took place around A.D. 48-50, had written to the Christians of Antioch, Syria and Cilicia telling them to abstain from food which had been sacrificed to idols (Acts 15:23-29). When Saint Paul was preaching in Corinth two years later, he may not have said anything on the subject, given the very pagan environment of the area – much different from Antioch, Syria and Cilicia. If the faithful at Corinth had to avoid meat of this kind, they would have had to isolate themselves from their fellow citizens. In replying to this question Saint Paul first explains the general principles that apply: They may eat meat of this type, for idols have no real existence, but sometimes charity requires that they abstain from it; if it was thought that it would lead a new convert back to paganism for example by corrupting the conscience. Paul then illustrates what he says by telling what he himself does. It is from this illustration that our reading comes.
 -How can you live your life so as not to corrupt the conscience of others?
The Holy Gospel according to Mark 1:29-39
On leaving the synagogue Jesus entered the house of Simon and Andrew with James and John. Simon’s mother-in-law lay sick with a fever. They immediately told him about her. He approached, grasped her hand, and helped her up. Then the fever left her and she waited on them. When it was evening, after sunset, they brought to him all who were ill or possessed by demons. The whole town was gathered at the door. He cured many who were sick with various diseases, and he drove out many demons, not permitting them to speak because they knew him. Rising very early before dawn, he left  and went off to a deserted place, where he prayed. Simon and those who were with him pursued him and on finding him said, “Everyone is looking for you.” He told them, “Let us go on to the nearby villages that I may preach there also. For this purpose have I come.” So he went into their synagogues, preaching and driving out demons throughout the whole of Galilee.
Reflection  Jesus is early in His public ministry. He has begun to gather His disciples around him and He has gone to Capernaum and has taught in the synagogue where He astonished all present with His teaching: He teaches like one in authority, not like the scribes (He says “I 4 say to you,” not “the law says”). He speaks of what He knows and testifies to what He has seen (John 3:11). He does, and then preaches, unlike those who teach but do not do (Matthew 23:1-5). While at the synagogue, Jesus also heals a man who is possessed by an evil spirit. In doing this He gives the residents of Capernaum a very clear sign that God’s salvation has come: By overcoming the evil one, Jesus shows that He is the messiah, the savior, one more powerful than demons. Our reading for today immediately follows this event.  
Adults - Jesus goes off to a deserted place to pray. Do we make time for silence in our lives to hear God?
Teens - Jesus spends much time in prayer. How can we follow His example?
Kids - Do you have a set daily prayer time? If not, think of a time you can spend with the Lord every day!

LIVING THE WORD OF GOD THIS WEEK!  - This is the good news Christ brought to our world. This is the meaning of Christianity; this is why we are Christians. We are members of Christ's kingdom on earth, so that when our life here ends we shall be members of his everlasting heavenly kingdom. Yet, with all of this knowledge and with the example of the thousands and millions of saints who have lived according to this knowledge over the past nineteen hundred years and more, and who are now enjoying the reward Christianity promised them, how active and how effective is our Christian faith in our daily thoughts and deeds? In my daily dealings with my fellowmen would I be picked out as a Christian? Do I, by my words and deeds, prove to those with whom I live and work that I am convinced there is a future life after death, that reaching that life is the most important thing in this world for me, and that it is through living my short earthly life as a true Christian that I can earn that eternal life?


THE SACRAMENT OF CONFIRMATION  
265. What place does Confirmation have in the divine plan of salvation? b) Old Testament prophets announced the Spirit on the Messiah  
In the Old Testament the prophets announced that the Spirit of the Lord would rest on the awaited Messiah and on the entire messianic people. The whole life and mission of Jesus were carried out in total communion with the Holy Spirit. The apostles received the Holy Spirit at Pentecost and proclaimed “the great works of God” (Acts 2:11). They gave the gift of the same Spirit to the newly baptized by the laying on of hands. Down through the centuries, the Church has continued to live by the Spirit and to impart him to her children.  
 
266. Why is this sacrament called Chrismation or Confirmation? d) all of the above  
It is called Chrismation (in the Eastern Churches: Anointing with holy myron or chrism) because the essential rite of the sacrament is anointing with chrism. It is called Confirmation because it confirms and strengthens baptismal grace.  
 
267. What is the essential rite of Confirmation? c) “Be sealed with the gift of the Holy Spirit”  
The essential rite of Confirmation is the anointing with Sacred Chrism (oil mixed with balsam and consecrated by the bishop), which is done by the laying on of the hand of the minister who pronounces the sacramental words proper to the rite. In the West this anointing is done on the forehead of the baptized with the words, “Be sealed with the gift of the Holy Spirit”. In the Eastern Churches of the Byzantine rite this anointing is also done on other parts of the body with the words, “The seal of the gift of the Holy Spirit”.