PRAYER DURING TIME OF ILLNESS (from the US Bishops; Please try to say everyday, if you are able.  Thanks!)

Holy Virgin of Guadalupe,
Queen of the Angels and Mother of the Americas.
We fly to you today as your beloved children.
We ask you to intercede for us with your Son, as you did at the wedding in Cana.

Pray for us, loving Mother,
and gain for our nation and world,
and for all our families and loved ones, the protection of your holy angels, that we may be spared the worst of this illness.

For those already afflicted,
we ask you to obtain the grace of healing and deliverance.
Hear the cries of those who are vulnerable and fearful,
wipe away their tears and help them to trust.

In this time of trial and testing,
teach all of us in the Church to love one another and to be patient and kind. Help us to bring the peace of Jesus to our land and to our hearts.

We come to you with confidence,
knowing that you truly are our compassionate mother, health of the sick and cause of our joy.

Shelter us under the mantle of your protection, keep us in the embrace of your arms, help us always to know the love of your Son, Jesus. Amen.

Dear friends in Christ Jesus,
      Sometimes in life we have long projects or difficult journeys to complete.  Some view the season of Lent this way.  So the Church helps us and encourages us at such times.

 
        One way the Church does this is by marking the middle of a journey or when it is over half-way completed, and this is the case with Lent.  Generally, Lent is a subdued time with focus and work on prayer, fasting, and almsgiving.  Music is less during the Masses of Lent, and the organ is recommended not to be used at all.  Longer readings of Sacred Scripture and silence tends to play a big part in the Mass.  Flowers are not used to adorn the altar.  But all this is lessened with Laetare Sunday.
 
            The Thursday before Laetare Sunday (read more below) is actually the middle day of Lent, and it was at one time observed as such, but afterwards the special signs of joy permitted on this day, intended to encourage the faithful in their course through the season of Lent, were transferred to the Sunday following this Thursday. These special signs of joy consist (like those of Gaudete Sunday in Advent [3rd Sunday of Advent]) in the use of flowers on the altar, and of the organ at Mass; rose-colored vestments (NOT pink :o) ) are allowed instead of purple. The contrast between Laetare and the other Sundays of Lent is thus emphasized, and is characteristic of the joys of this life, restrained rejoicing mingled with a certain amount of sadness.   
 
Peace and prayers in Jesus through Mary, loved by Saint Joseph,

Father Robert
 
P.S.  This Sunday is Laetare Sunday, the Fourth Sunday of Lent.  >> Readings

“Helpful Hints of Life”

Living and Loving Others
Never take a "You did", "You said", "You always", and "You never" approach to any discussion with someone you know.  Use non-threatening language, and voice tones that bring forth the spirit of cooperation and trust you should have with another especially if you profess to love that person.
 
“This is the day which the LORD has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it. 
Jesus rose from the dead "on the first day of the week." Because it is the "first day," the day of Christ's Resurrection recalls the first creation. Because it is the "eighth day" following the sabbath, it symbolizes the new creation ushered in by Christ's Resurrection. For Christians it has become the first of all days, the first of all feasts, the Lord's Day (he kuriake hemera, dies dominica) Sunday:
We all gather on the day of the sun, for it is the first day [after the Jewish sabbath, but also the first day] when God, separating matter from darkness, made the world; and on this same day Jesus Christ our Savior rose from the dead.”   
​Catechism of the Catholic Church #2174

​

Wikimedia Commons, Public Domain / Pixabay, Public DomainThe Vatican’s Apostolic Penitentiary announced an opportunity for a plenary indulgence during the current coronavirus pandemic.
According to the decree, “the gift of special Indulgences is granted to the faithful suffering from COVID-19 disease, commonly known as Coronavirus, as well as to health care workers, family members, and all those who in any capacity, including through prayer, care for them.”
A Plenary indulgence removes all temporal punishment due to sin, but one must have “a spirit detached from any sin” for it to completely apply.

The faithful who qualify for a plenary indulgence during the coronavirus pandemic:

• Those suffering from the coronavirus illness
• Those ordered to quarantine themselves due to the virus
• Health care workers, family members, and others caring for those with the coronavirus (exposing themselves to contagion)

Do at least one of the following:

• Unite yourself spiritually through the media in the celebration of the Holy Mass
• Recite the Rosary
• Pious practice of the Way of the Cross (or other forms of devotion)
• Recite the Creed, the Lord’s Prayer, and “a pious invocation to the Blessed Virgin Mary, offering this trial in a spirit of faith in God and charity towards their brothers and sisters.”

Also must perform all of the following as soon as possible: (considered the three usual conditions for a plenary indulgence)

• Sacramental Confession
• Eucharistic communion
• Pray for the Pope’s intentions

The faithful not suffering from the coronavirus can:
“Implore the Almighty God for the end of the epidemic, relief for those who are afflicted, and eternal salvation for those whom the Lord has called to Himself.”
In addition to the usual conditions mentioned above for a plenary indulgence, do at least one of the following:

• Visit the Blessed Sacrament or go to Eucharistic adoration
• Read the Holy Scriptures for at least half an hour
• Recite Holy Rosary
• Pious exercise of the Way of the Cross
• Recite the Chaplet of Divine Mercy

Plenary indulgence for those unable to receive Anointing of the Sick:
The decree adds that “the Church prays for those who find themselves unable to receive the Sacrament of the Anointing of the Sick and of the Viaticum, entrusting each and every one to divine Mercy by virtue of the communion of saints and granting the faithful a Plenary Indulgence on the point of death, provided that they are duly disposed and have recited a few prayers during their lifetime (in this case the Church makes up for the three usual conditions required). For the attainment of this indulgence the use of the crucifix or the cross is recommended.”

Pray for an end to the coronavirus pandemic and all suffering from the coronavirus!


SDG Reviews ‘Unplanned’: The Abby Johnson Story
Pure Flix’s adaptation of the Planned Parenthood clinic director-turned-pro-life activist makes for a rousing conversion story for the pro-life faithful that’s not entirely without a challenge to the movement.
Steven D. GreydanusBased on the memoir by Planned Parenthood clinic director-turned-pro-life activist Abby Johnson, Unplanned opens on the crucial Saturday in September 2009 when, per Johnson’s conversion story, Abby (Ashley Bratcher, War Room) is asked to assist with an ultrasound-guided abortion and witnesses the image of a 13-week-old unborn child squirming in an apparent effort to avoid the vacuum cannula that proceeds to dismember its body piece by piece.


The extended flashback that follows over the next hour or so includes a number of other disturbing abortion incidents from Abby’s life and career, including two of her own. One of hers goes badly wrong, as does one at the Bryan, Texas, facility where she works. Unplannedisn’t the most disturbing treatment of abortion I’ve seen in film, but it’s queasy enough, which is the intent.


The most horrific abortion-themed film I’ve ever seen would be Cristian Mungiu’s 2007 4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days, which is about an illegal abortion in 1980s Romania.


Mungiu’s film took no position for or against abortion, but viewers on both sides of the abortion debate found in it at least some support for their own views — a token, I think, of the film’s trueness to life.
Abortion advocates saw in the nightmare circumstances entangling two young women a scathing indictment of the Romanian anti-abortion laws, making desperate women vulnerable to predatory black-market abortion providers.


For pro-lifers, the human dignity of unborn life was attested in the film’s attention to the fate of the fetus, from the unflinching shot of the tiny face and ruined body lying on a tile floor amid bloody towels to the mother’s urgent need to see her baby buried rather than disposed as waste, and the guilt and grief when this doesn’t happen.
Although the abortions in Unplanned are legal, an illicit back-alley aura hangs over a horrible scene in which a sedated young woman (Bella Altamura) in the recovery room begins bleeding out from a perforated uterus, leading to a panicky, prolonged effort to stabilize her without the PR hit of summoning an ambulance. Compounding the queasiness, Abby is forced to tell reassuring lies to the worried father in the waiting room.
Another scene includes a close-up on translucent fetal remains that Abby examines with detached fascination in the the POC room, where dismembered body parts are reassembled to ensure that nothing has been left in the uterus. POC stands for “products of conception,” though one of the other employees morbidly jokes that it really stands for “pieces of children.”  


Johnson’s story is dramatic and powerful. The writing-directing team of Chuck Konzelman and Cary Solomon (whose previous collaborations include the screenplays for Pure Flix’s God’s Not Dead movies) capture at least some of that drama and power, with one crucial caveat.
From the very beginning, Unplanned is crafted specifically for Pure Flix’s target audience, an audience that is already pro-life. This is a regular issue with faith-based films, including the recent abortion-themed Gosnell: The Trial of America’s Biggest Serial Killer — though Gosnelltook a somewhat broader approach by emphasizing the consequences of treating abortion as politically untouchable and even unregulatable.
Before the first image appears onscreen, Abby addresses the audience in a voice-over running through the whole film: “My story isn’t an easy one to hear. I think I probably ought to warn you about that.”
As Abby arrives at the facility, the voice-over continues, “I’ve been asked a thousand times: Were you so gullible? So ambivalent, so naive, so foolish … ? My answer? Yes. I often find people don’t like my answers. That’s understandable. Because my story isn’t a neat and tidy one.”
That tone establishes Unplanned as a kind of cinematic personal testimony, told from Johnson’s post-conversion point of view, rather than the journey of a character whose shifting point of view we follow as she becomes increasingly committed to her Planned Parenthood career before starting to become more conflicted.
That story, told without voice-over and without the promise of Abby’s tears of repentance in the opening scene, might be a more effective drama for viewers of any point of view, but perhaps it would have been felt to be too alienating for the Pure Flix audience.
By starting at the end of Abby’s career and then flashing back with voice-over providing Abby’s post-conversion perspective, the film anchors the story in the destination.
To its credit, Unplanned isn’t entirely without challenge to pro-life viewers.
When Abby first shows up at Planned Parenthood to act as an escort accompanying clients from their cars to the door, the small knot of protesters outside the gate includes a black-robed Grim Reaper waving a scythe.
Another escort instructs Abby to engage clients as soon as they arrive on any topic — the weather, her clothes — anything “to distract her from the voices through the fence. They’re going to be harassing her. You need to make sure yours is the voice she hears.”
These aren’t idle words. When the first client arrives, a heavyset, middle-aged man with a gray goatee and sunglasses spits despicable taunts through the fence at her and the escorts coming to assist her.
Later, when a chipper young woman named Marilisa (Emma Elle Roberts) from the Coalition for Life tries to engage Abby, Abby incredulously accosts her: “In what world would a woman run to someone dressed as the Grim Reaper for help with her crisis pregnancy?”
Such tactics don’t help, Marilisa agrees candidly, adding that those people weren’t with the Coalition for Life.
Much later, the story breaks of the assassination of Dr. George Tiller, who gained notoriety for specializing in late-term abortions.
Tiller’s murder deeply affects Abby, who notes that he had a family, and she is especially appalled that he was killed in church. We see, too, that this leads to concern for Abby’s own safety, as well as that of her family and staff.
The film doesn’t include the death threats and other harassment that Abby herself received from anti-abortion activists. Still, I appreciate Unplanned going as far as it does in acknowledging that, as appalling as abortion is, anti-abortion zeal can take grotesque and even occasionally violent forms.
Imagine a version of this story that dared to open with the start of Abby’s first day — in which, rather than Abby’s opening statement, the first thing we heard was the taunts of the goateed man and the first image was the Grim Reaper with his scythe. An opening like that would signal trust in the audience and in the power of the story to convey the message without handholding.
But that’s not the kind of movie Pure Flix appears to be interested in making. Judged for what it is, a rousing personal testimony of conversion addressed to the pro-life faithful, Unplanneddelivers.
Camerawork and editing are solid, with attention to camera movements carried across shots and scene transitions to facilitate a sense of narrative flow. I’ve seen the film twice, once on the big screen (in a nearly finished cut) and once via screening link, and it’s among the better constructed faith-based films I’ve seen.
As with Gosnell, the film’s most notable display of technique is connected to its central concern. When Abby wakes up on a table after her first abortion, the camera pushes into a tight close-up and comes into focus to convey her disorientation — and it’s turned sideways so that her face in profile appears upright in a sideways room.
Then, as she tries to sit up, there’s a graphic match cut to the recovery room, where she really is upright in a chair, her head slumping forward to follow the movement from the previous shot. It’s good filmmaking (and it plays even better without the soundtrack, told visually without voice-over explanation).
There are other small virtues. Most of the Planned Parenthood staff seem likable and decent, aside from the occasional cheerful callousness of acerbic Renee (Tina Toner).
The weight of villainy falls solidly on Abby’s boss and mentor, Cheryl (Robia Scott). When Abby, to Cheryl’s open disapproval, decides that with her third pregnancy she’s finally ready for a child, Cheryl sneers that at least the sight of Abby’s baby bump will encourage clients to abort.
Cheryl mentors Abby like a predator grooming a victim, but without the subtlety. When Abby steps out of line and Cheryl turns on her, she becomes even more cartoonishly villainous.
Marilisa and her husband, Shawn Carney (Jared Lotz), who run the Coalition for Life, are entirely angelic. (Carney is now the head of 40 Days for Life.)
Abby’s easygoing husband, Doug (Brooks Ryan), and her pro-life parents (Robert Thomason and Robin DeMarco) are also saintly, and they love Abby unconditionally through all her years at Planned Parenthood. The lack of family conflict is really extraordinary. Oh, and little Andee Grace Burton is Hallmark-movie cherubic as Abby and Doug’s daughter Grace.
“My story isn’t a neat and tidy one,” Abby tells us at the start, but this telling is still pretty neat and tidy. Perhaps the real story was messier. Questions have been raised about the accuracy of some details of Johnson’s account of her departure from Planned Parenthood. Some details of the film may be couched to address such questions. At any rate, the film is at least somewhat fictionalized and can be watched for what it is.
One thing missing from Unplanned is a concrete depiction of the Coalition for Life’s expressed interest in offering help to pregnant women in crisis. Marilisa and later Abby herself offer caring and reassuring words to distraught women in the Planned Parenthood parking lot, but we never see, for instance, deliveries of diapers or baby clothes or other practical forms of help.
Abortion is appalling, violent and inhuman, and no one should be involved in it. But the answer to appalling violence is love and support, not more violence or appalling behavior. That’s the message of Unplanned. The more people take that message to heart, the better off the world will be.
Deacon Steven D. Greydanus is the Register’s film critic and creator of Decent Films.
He is a permanent deacon in the Archdiocese of Newark, New Jersey.
Caveat Spectator: Disturbing ultrasound images of an unborn child being dismembered; much medical gore and brief images of fetal parts; some cursing; a couple of sexual references. Mature viewing.

​

Rome, Italy, Feb 2  (EWTN News/CNA)  - As Pope Francis' year dedicated to consecrated life comes to a close, one nun shared her thoughts on the how her religious garb serves as a “visible sign” that God exists and loves every person. 
Though the official Year for Consecrated Life just concluded, it's actually “the beginning of helping people get reacquainted with religious life,” said Sr. Mary Christa of the Sisters of Mercy of Alma.
She said that while there are those who have a general idea about religious sisters, there's still a degree of uncertainty on the part of many about what religious life looks like.
Right now, Sr. Mary Christa added, there's “confusion”  – over questions such as why some sisters wear habits and some don't – and her hope is that this year marks the start of “a fruitful understanding of religious life in the Church in its most authentic, visible witness.”
The Year for Consecrated Life, which began Nov. 30, 2014, concluded Feb. 2 on the Feast of the Presentation of Jesus.
Sr. Mary Christa, who also runs U.S. bishops' visitor's office in Rome with several other Sisters of Mercy, called the habit of a religious sister an important part of being a witness.
“The religious habit should say a number of things, both to the sister herself, and to those who see her,” she said, recounting how she is often approached by strangers asking for prayers, who automatically trust her on account of her appearance.
“The habit is a visible sign of the love of God,” she said. “But it’s also, I have found, a great responsibility and a reminder to me: the responsibility to be what I show that I am.” 
“It’s a sign of the love of God and that this life is not all there is: that God exists and loves them,” she said.
One of the distinguishing aspects of their habit – a dark veil and a simple, pale blue frock in the summer, and a darker color for the winter – is a simple black cross, overlaid by a smaller white cross, which is worn around the neck. 
“The black of the cross represents the misery of mankind that we find in the world, and the white represents God’s mercy, which we are called to bring into the world as Sisters of Mercy,” explained Sr. Mary Michaela, who works at the visitor's office. 
“There is a long tradition in religious life of wearing a habit as a visible sign that we are consecrated to God and to the service of the Church in a special way,” she said. “It’s also part of poverty,” she added. “Our habit is simple, so we don’t buy a big wardrobe.”
Living in Rome, Sr. Mary Michaela noted how she too is approached by people asking for prayers on account of her habit. 
“When they see the habit, they realize that there is something particular about our life,” she said. 
“They recognize that we represent, in some way, God’s presence. We remind people of God’s presence here in the world.”
First established in Ireland in 1831 by venerable Catherine McAuley, the Sisters of Mercy centered their work on education, catechesis, healthcare. Spreading to the United States, the order was re-founded in 1973 in Alma, Michigan, where its motherhouse is currently located. 
In addition to the three vows taken by all religious sisters, the Sisters of Mercy take a fourth vow of service to the poor, sick, and ignorant.
In Rome, the Sisters of Mercy offer orientation to U.S. Pilgrims – obtaining tickets for papal events, answering their questions about the city, and helping them with the pilgrimage aspect of their visit.
“This is one of the apostolic works that we do as a community,” said Sr. Regina Marie, speaking on her work at the visitor's office.
Pilgrims “can come here and learn about the faith,” she said. “We will often have a priest that will come at a certain time for a half hour and give catechesis for anyone who wants to. We have catechetical materials out for the pilgrims, (or) even just a place for them to sit down for a few minutes.”
“Our charism is the mercy of God,” she said. “Our apostolates are usually focused around the corporal and spiritual works of mercy, which can manifest themselves in many ways.”  
Sr. Anna Marie, another sister at the office, adds that “the consecrated life is a sign of his presence on earth.” 
“We live our vows so that when people see us, they think of God, and they think of Jesus, and they think of the Church. That’s a tremendous privilege.”
On how people will often ask her about her life as a religious, Sr. Anna Marie said she is excited to answer their questions.
“It’s a gift not only for me, but a gift for the whole Church and for the world,” she said. ​

“Christ and his Church thus together make up the "whole Christ" (Christus totus). The Church is one with Christ.
The saints are acutely aware of this unity:
Let us rejoice then and give thanks that we have become not only Christians, but Christ himself. Do you understand and grasp, brethren, God's grace toward us? Marvel andrejoice: we have become Christ. For if he is the head, we are the members; he and we together are the whole man. . . . The fullness of Christ then is the head and the members. But what does "head and members" mean? Christ and the Church.
Our redeemer has shown himself to be one person with the holy Church whom he has taken to himself.
Head and members form as it were one and the same mystical person.
A reply of St. Joan of Arc to her judges sums up the faith of the holy doctors and the good sense of the believer: "About Jesus Christ and the Church, I simply know they're just one thing, and we shouldn't complicate the matter.”   Catechism of the Catholic Church #795

 “To the Lord's Sermon on the Mount it is fitting to add the moral catechesis of the apostolic teachings, such as Romans 12-15, 1 Corinthians 12-13, Colossians 3-4, Ephesians 4-5, etc. This doctrine hands on the Lord's teaching with the authority of the apostles, particularly in the presentation of the virtues that flow from faith in Christ and are animated by charity, the principal gift of the Holy Spirit. "Let charity be genuine. . . . Love one another with brotherly affection. . . . Rejoice in your hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer. Contribute to the needs of the saints, practice hospitality." This catechesis also teaches us to deal with cases of conscience in the light of our relationship to Christ and to the Church..”   Catechism of the Catholic Church #1971

+JMJ+
SUNDAY MASS READINGS AND QUESTIONS
for Self-Reflection, Couples or Family Discussion
Fourth Sunday of Lent - Laetare Sunday- March 22nd, 2020


The First Reading - 1 Sm 16:1b, 6-7, 10-13a
The LORD said to Samuel: “Fill your horn with oil, and be on your way. I am sending you to Jesse of Bethlehem, for I have chosen my king from among his sons.” As Jesse and his sons came to the sacrifice, Samuel looked at Eliab and thought, “Surely the LORD’s anointed is here before him.” But the LORD said to Samuel: “Do not judge from his appearance or from his lofty stature, because I have rejected him. Not as man sees does God see, because man sees the appearance but the LORD looks into the heart.” In the same way Jesse presented seven sons before Samuel, but Samuel said to Jesse, “The LORD has not chosen any one of these.” Then Samuel asked Jesse, “Are these all the sons you have?” Jesse replied, “There is still the youngest, who is tending the sheep.” Samuel said to Jesse, “Send for him; we will not begin the sacrificial banquet until he arrives here.” Jesse sent and had the young man brought to them. He was ruddy, a youth handsome to behold and making a splendid appearance. The LORD said, “There—anoint him, for this is the one!” Then Samuel, with the horn of oil in hand, anointed David in the presence of his brothers; and from that day on, the spirit of the LORD rushed upon David.
Reflection
The anointing of David is typologically related to the anointing of the Blind Man in the Gospel. Like David, the Blind Man enters into communion with God through this anointing. As we will see, he is “recreated” by Jesus through this miracle. But the Spirit is connected to creation. The Holy Spirit is the “Creator Spirit,” who moved over the waters of the abyss at the beginning and caused creation to come into being. When David receives the Spirit of the LORD at the hands of Samuel, he is in a sense becoming a new creation of God. As St. Paul will later say, “If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation!” (2 Cor 5:17).
Adults – What do you need Jesus to “recreate” in your life?
Teens -As a new creation in the Lord, how should we live differently from the rest of the world?
Kids – Why do you think God wants us to live in the ways that He teaches?
Responsorial- Psalm Ps 23: 1-3a, 3b-4, 5, 6.
R. The Lord is my shepherd; there is nothing I shall want.
The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want.
beside restful waters he leads me;
he refreshes my soul.
R. The Lord is my shepherd; there is nothing I shall want.
He guides me in right paths
for his name’s sake.
Even though I walk in the dark valley
I fear no evil; for you are at my side
With your rod and your staff
that give me courage.
R. The Lord is my shepherd; there is nothing I shall want.
You spread the table before me
in the sight of my foes;
you anoint my head with oil;
my cup overflows.
R. The Lord is my shepherd; there is nothing I shall want.
Only goodness and kindness follow me
all the days of my life;
and I shall dwell in the house of the LORD
for years to come.
R. The Lord is my shepherd; there is nothing I shall want.
Reflection
The Responsorial Psalm is the well-known and much beloved Psalm 23. “The LORD is my shepherd, there is nothing I shall want.” Besides the LORD, the only other individual identified as the Shepherd of Israel in the OT is the Davidic King. Like their forefather, the heirs of David were Shepherds of Israel. Ezekiel prophesied a day when both the LORD God himself (Ezek 34:15) and David (Ezek 34:23) would be Shepherd of Israel, yet mysteriously, there would only be One Shepherd (Ezek 34:23).
-Do you rely on the Lord as a sheep relies on its shepherd?


The Second Reading- Eph 5:8-14
Brothers and sisters: You were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Live as children of light, for light produces every kind of goodness and righteousness and truth. Try to learn what is pleasing to the Lord. Take no part in the fruitless works of darkness; rather expose them, for it is shameful even to mention the things done by them in secret; but everything exposed by the light becomes visible, for everything that becomes visible is light. Therefore, it says: “Awake, O sleeper, and arise from the dead,
and Christ will give you light.”
Reflection - In today’s Gospel, Jesus grants light to a man born into darkness. Yet the natural darkness of the Blind Man is a type of the condition into which all of us are born, namely, the spiritual darkness of original sin. In Baptism we arise from spiritual death (“Awake, O Sleeper, and arise from the dead”) and become enlightened with the illuminating gift of the Holy Spirit.
-Where could you use the light of Christ in your life?


The Holy Gospel according to Jn 9:1-41
As Jesus passed by he saw a man blind from birth. His disciples asked him, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?” Jesus answered, “Neither he nor his parents sinned; it is so that the works of God might be made visible through him. We have to do the works of the one who sent me while it is day. Night is coming when no one can work. While I am in the world, I am the light of the world.” When he had said this, he spat on the ground and made clay with the saliva, and smeared the clay on his eyes, and said to him, “Go wash in the Pool of Siloam” —which means Sent—. So he went and washed, and came back able to see. His neighbors and those who had seen him earlier as a beggar said, “Isn’t this the one who used to sit and beg?” Some said, “It is, “but others said, “No, he just looks like him.” He said, “I am.” So they said to him, “How were your eyes opened?” He replied, “The man called Jesus made clay and anointed my eyes and told me, ‘Go to Siloam and wash.’ So I went there and washed and was able to see.” And they said to him, “Where is he?” He said, “I don’t know.” They brought the one who was once blind to the Pharisees. Now Jesus had made clay and opened his eyes on a sabbath. So then the Pharisees also asked him how he was able to see. He said to them, “He put clay on my eyes, and I washed, and now I can see.” So some of the Pharisees said, “This man is not from God, because he does not keep the sabbath.” But others said, “How can a sinful man do such signs?” And there was a division among them. So they said to the blind man again, “What do you have to say about him, since he opened your eyes?” He said, “He is a prophet.” Now the Jews did not believe that he had been blind and gained his sight until they summoned the parents of the one who had gained his sight. They asked them, “Is this your son, who you say was born blind? How does he now see?” His parents answered and said, “We know that this is our son and that he was born blind. We do not know how he sees now, nor do we know who opened his eyes. Ask him, he is of age; he can speak for himself.” His parents said this because they were afraid of the Jews, for the Jews had already agreed that if anyone acknowledged him as the Christ, he would be expelled from the synagogue. For this reason his parents said, “He is of age; question him.” So a second time they called the man who had been blind and said to him, “Give God the praise! We know that this man is a sinner.” He replied, “If he is a sinner, I do not know. One thing I do know is that I was blind and now I see.” So they said to him, “What did he do to you? How did he open your eyes?” He answered them, “I told you already and you did not listen. Why do you want to hear it again? Do you want to become his disciples, too?” They ridiculed him and said, “You are that man’s disciple; we are disciples of Moses! We know that God spoke to Moses, but we do not know where this one is from.” The man answered and said to them, “This is what is so amazing, that you do not know where he is from, yet he opened my eyes. We know that God does not listen to sinners, but if one is devout and does his will, he listens to him. It is unheard of that anyone ever opened the eyes of a person born blind. If this man were not from God, he would not be able to do anything.” They answered and said to him, “You were born totally in sin, and are you trying to teach us?” Then they threw him out. When Jesus heard that they had thrown him out, he found him and said, "Do you believe in the Son of Man?” He answered and said, “Who is he, sir, that I may believe in him?” Jesus said to him, “You have seen him, the one speaking with you is he.” He said, “I do believe, Lord,” and he worshiped him. Then Jesus said, “I came into this world for judgment, so that those who do not see might see, and those who do see might become blind.” Some of the Pharisees who were with him heard this and said to him, “Surely we are not also blind, are we?” Jesus said to them, “If you were blind, you would have no sin; but now you are saying, ‘We see,’ so your sin remains.
Reflection - The Man Born Blind is a type of the Baptizand. All of us are born into spiritual blindness, original sin. The disciples’ question “Who sinned, this man or his parents?” reflects a Pharisaic belief that birth defects were the result of parental sin, or else the child himself sinned in the womb. Jesus says “Neither have sinned.” Instead, this is an opportunity for God’s glory to be revealed. “I am the light of the world,” Jesus asserts. To fully appreciate this statement, and indeed the entire account of this healing, we must notice that it occurs in a long section of John (chapters 7-9) which takes place during the Jewish Feast of Tabernacles. This resplendent festival was marked by two themes: light (Zech 14:7) and water (Zech 14:8). The Temple was lit with gigantic menorahs all through the night for a week, and on the last day of the festival water was taken from the Pool of Siloam and poured out on the altar of the Temple as a prayer for rain, and as an actualization of various OT prophecies of a river flowing from the Temple in the last times (see Ezek 47; Joel 3:18; Zech 14:8). John 9 ends this long section of John, and draws together the themes of water and light, as Jesus uses water to bring light to this man. Obviously, water and light are connected to creation, too, because first the waters covered the deep, and then God said, “Let there be light!”
Adults – In this time of trial for our world, where do you see God’s light?
Teens – How is the love and mercy of God bringing you comfort?
Kids – Where do you experience the love of Jesus?
 

Dear friends in Christ Jesus,

         The three tools to truly change this Lent are prayer, fasting, and almsgiving.  Fasting must often be added to prayer.
 
When he entered the house, his disciples asked him in private, "Why could we not drive it (the demon) out?"
He said to them, "This kind can only come out through prayer and fasting."  Mark 9:28-29
 
         Food is the most primordial drives of the human being.  If food is not available to someone, all other desires will be subordinated to it.  So when one struggles with the sometimes disordered desires and passions of the human person, ordering the desire for food is one of the best places to start to gain strength to order the rest.  We must master our passions or they master us.
 
         Namely, fasting on bread and water at least once a week (a Wednesday or Friday is the best day) has been the practice along with prayer that have made saints and given countless people mastery over unruly passions (i.e. vices, bad habits, etc.).  One can also fast by not eating in-between meals or saying no to sweets.  Try this ‘hammer of the spiritual life’ and you will not be disappointed!
 
Peace and prayers in Jesus through Mary, loved by Saint Joseph,
 
Father Robert
P.S.  This coming Sunday is the Third Sunday of Lent.  >> Readings

 
e5 Men
 
http://www.e5men.org/

e5 Men

www.e5men.org
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HUSBANDS FASTING FOR THEIR WIVES. The e5 Man fasts for his bride as a way to imitate Jesus as described by Saint Paul in his letter to the Ephesians, chapter 5 (for ...
Based on Ephesians chapter 5 these are Christian men (mostly Catholic) who are fasting for their loved ones, mainly their wives.  They, like Christ, are laying down their lives by fasting for those they love and want to help get to heaven.  I can personally testify to the power of doing this.  I have also met the founder of this site and united action. Women may also sign up to have men fast for them to spiritual help them.  Just do it!
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At the end of his annual Lenten penitential service on Friday, Pope Francis was the first to go to the sacrament of confession, afterward hearing the confessions of seven laypeople, three men and four women, in attendance.

Instead of giving a homily during the service, which he has done in years past, Pope Francis led people in a lengthy silence following the readings in order to reflect and pray prior to receiving the sacrament of confession.
Earlier on March 17, Francis spoke with participants of the Apostolic Penitentiary’s annual course on the internal forum about the importance of confessors being available to people and spiritually well-formed.
In his speech, the Pope said that to be a good confessor, a priest must be a man of prayer, a man who is attentive to the Holy Spirit and knows how to discern well, and who also is a good evangelizer.
Held in St. Peter's Basilica, the penitential service usually takes place on the fourth Friday of Lent, in anticipation of the “24 Hours for the Lord” initiative held yearly on the fourth Friday and Saturday of Lent.
This year, however, the Pope's penitential service was moved to the week prior, March 17. In addition to going to confession and hearing the confessions of seven others, the service included prayers, songs and readings from Scripture.
Afterward, almost 100 priest and bishops were available to hear the confessions of those in attendance.
Led by Pope Francis, “24 Hours for the Lord” is a worldwide initiative which points to confession as a primary way to experience God's merciful embrace. It was launched in 2014 under the auspices of the Pontifical Council for the Promotion of the New Evangelization.
Taking place on Mar. 24-25, this year's theme is “I Desire Mercy” (Mt. 9:13). The theme is taken from the verse in Matthew which says: “Go and learn the meaning of the words, 'I desire mercy, not sacrifice.' I did not come to call the righteous but sinners.”
Starting in the evening on March 24, churches throughout Rome will remain open for 24 hours to give pilgrims the opportunity to go to confession and take part in Eucharistic Adoration.
While parishes in Rome will be open overnight, churches elsewhere in the world are invited to participate as well, adapting the initiative to suit their local situations and needs.
Additional information on the “24 Hours for the Lord” can be found at the Pontifical Council for the Promotion of the New Evangelization's website, www.novaevangelizatio.va. 
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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.
-I read recipes the same way I read science fiction. I get to the end and I think, ‘Well, that’snot going to happen.'”  
-“A clear conscience is usually the sign of a bad memory.”  
-“Money can’t buy you happiness? Well, check this out, I bought myself a Happy Meal!”  
-“The easiest time to add insult to injury is when you’re signing somebody’s cast.”  
-“A TV can insult your intelligence. But nothing rubs it in like a computer.”

Honor Among Thieves
A mother complained to the schoolteacher, that other students in class were stealing her daughter’s pencils.
“It’s not the money—it’s the 
principle,” she insisted. “My husband took those pencils from work.”

Ivy League Music
A month after Donald MacDonald started at Harvard, his mother called from Scotland. "And how are the American students, Donald?" she asked. 
"They’re so noisy," he complained. "One neighbor endlessly bangs his head against the wall, while another screams all night." 
"How do you put up with it?" 
"I just ignore them and play my bagpipes." 

Kids in Church 2
THE LORD IS MY SHEPHERD
  A Sunday School teacher decided to have her young class memorize one of the most quoted passages in the Bible - Psalm 23.  She gave the youngsters a month to learn the chapter.  Little Rick was excited about the task - but he just couldn't remember the Psalm.  After much practice, he could barely get past the first line.  On the day that the kids were scheduled to recite Psalm 23 in front of the congregation, Ricky was so nervous.  When it was his turn, he stepped up to the microphone and said proudly, 'The Lord is my Shepherd, and that's all I need to know.'
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A father was at the beach with his children when the four-year old son ran up to him, grabbed his hand, and led him to the shore, where a seagull lay dead in the sand.  "Daddy, what happened to him?" the son asked. "He died and went to Heaven," the dad replied.  The boy thought a moment and then said, "Did God throw him back down?"
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At Sunday School they were teaching how God created everything, including human beings.  Little Johnny, a child in the kindergarten class, seemed especially intent when they told him how Eve was created out of one of Adam's ribs.  Later in the week his mother noticed him lying as though he were ill, and said. "Johnny what is the matter?"  Little Johnny responded, "I have a pain in my side. I think I'm going to have a wife....!" 
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A Prayer to Say While Fasting


O Jesus, through the Immaculate Heart of Mary, make this time of prayer and fasting
truly fruitful in my life that I may hunger for only you. Amen. 
 
 


  ‘The interior penance of the Christian can be expressed in many and various ways. Scripture and the Fathers insist above all on three forms, fasting, prayer, and almsgiving, which express conversion in relation to oneself, to God, and to others. Alongside the radical purification brought about by Baptism or martyrdom they cite as means of obtaining forgiveness of sins: effort at reconciliation with one's neighbor, tears of repentance, concern for the salvation of one's neighbor, the intercession of the saints, and the practice of charity ‘which covers a multitude of sins’”               -Catechism of the Catholic Church #1434

+JMJ+


Sunday Mass Readings and Questions
for Self-Reflection, Couples or Family Discussion
Third Sunday in Lent  - March 15th, 2020


The First Reading - Exodus 17:3-7
In those days, in their thirst for water, the people grumbled against Moses, saying, “Why did you ever make us leave Egypt? Was it just to have us die here of thirst with our children and our livestock?” So Moses cried out to the LORD, “What shall I do with this people? a little more and they will stone me!” The LORD answered Moses, “Go over there in front of the people, along with some of the elders of Israel, holding in your hand, as you go, the staff with which you struck the river. I will be standing there in front of you on the rock in Horeb. Strike the rock, and the water will flow from it for the people to drink.” This Moses did, in the presence of the elders of Israel. The place was called Massah and Meribah, because the Israelites quarreled there and tested the LORD, saying, “Is the LORD in our midst or not?”
ReflectionOf course, “Man does not live by bread alone,” in other words, our physical needs are not the definition of our truest nature.  Extending the metaphor to thirst, we may also say, “Man does not live by water alone.”  The satisfaction of thirst is not the ultimate answer for the human condition.  The physical thirst of the Israelites in the desert is a sign point to a greater thirst, our thirst for God himself.  David puts it this way: “As a hart longs for flowing streams, so longs my soul for thee, O God.  My soul thirsts for God, for the living God” (Ps 42:1-2).  The real thirst of the Israelites, whether they knew it or not, was for God himself.
Adults - How do you fill the longing for God in you life?
Teens -Humans need a real and tangible relationship with God. How does your Catholic faith provide this?
Kids - Be sure you are praying every day during Lent!

Responsorial- Psalm 95: 1-2, 6-7, 8-9

R. If today you hear his voice, harden not your hearts.
Come, let us sing joyfully to the LORD;
let us acclaim the Rock of our salvation.
Let us come into his presence with thanksgiving;
let us joyfully sing psalms to him.
R. If today you hear his voice, harden not your hearts.
Come, let us bow down in worship;
let us kneel before the LORD who made us.
For he is our God,
and we are the people he shepherds, the flock he guides.
R. If today you hear his voice, harden not your hearts.
Oh, that today you would hear his voice:
“Harden not your hearts as at Meribah,
    as in the day of Massah in the desert,
Where your fathers tempted me;
    they tested me though they had seen my works.”
R. If today you hear his voice, harden not your hearts.
ReflectionThis psalm recalls Israel’s rebelliousness in the desert and urges us: “If today you hear his voice, harden not your heart.”  In other words, the same God who led Israel through the Wilderness is still speaking to us now, today.  Do not repeat Israel’s mistakes.  Don’t fight against the God who is the only one able to supply your true desire.  How can you be sure you are not hardening your heart against God?
The Second Reading- Romans 5:1-2, 5-8
Brothers and sisters: Since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have gained access by faith to this grace in which we stand, and we boast in hope of the glory of God. And hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us. For Christ, while we were still helpless, died at the appointed time for the ungodly. Indeed, only with difficulty does one die for a just person, though perhaps for a good person one might even find courage to die. But God proves his love for us in that while we were still sinners Christ died for us. 
Reflection -St. Paul here speaks of being “justified by faith.”  We know that justification is a fruit of Baptism (1 Peter 3:21).  But for Baptism to be effective it must be received in faith.  Lack of faith can impede the subjective effects of the sacrament.  Justification is by faith, though not by faith alone. The poured waters represent and actualize the Holy Spirit being poured into our hearts, giving us the gift of divine love, that we may love as God does.  -How do you love as God loves?


The Holy Gospel according to John 4:5-42Jesus came to a town of Samaria called Sychar, near the plot of land that Jacob had given to his son Joseph. Jacob’s well was there. Jesus, tired from his journey, sat down there at the well. It was about noon. A woman of Samaria came to draw water. Jesus said to her, “Give me a drink.” His disciples had gone into the town to buy food. The Samaritan woman said to him, “How can you, a Jew, ask me, a Samaritan woman, for a drink?” —For Jews use nothing in common with Samaritans.— Jesus answered and said to her, “If you knew the gift of God and who is saying to you, ‘Give me a drink, ‘ you would have asked him and he would have given you living water.” The woman said to him, “Sir, you do not even have a bucket and the cistern is deep; where then can you get this living water? Are you greater than our father Jacob, who gave us this cistern and drank from it himself with his children and his flocks?” Jesus answered and said to her, “Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again; but whoever drinks the water I shall give will never thirst; the water I shall give will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.” The woman said to him, “Sir, give me this water, so that I may not be thirsty or have to keep coming here to draw water.” Jesus said to her, “Go call your husband and come back.” The woman answered and said to him, “I do not have a husband.” Jesus answered her, “You are right in saying, ‘I do not have a husband.’ For you have had five husbands, and the one you have now is not your husband. What you have said is true.” The woman said to him, “Sir, I can see that you are a prophet. Our ancestors worshiped on this mountain; but you people say that the place to worship is in Jerusalem.” Jesus said to her, “Believe me, woman, the hour is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem. You people worship what you do not understand; we worship what we understand, because salvation is from the Jews. But the hour is coming, and is now here, when true worshipers will worship the Father in Spirit and truth; and indeed the Father seeks such people to worship him. God is Spirit, and those who worship him must worship in Spirit and truth.” The woman said to him, “I know that the Messiah is coming, the one called the Christ; when he comes, he will tell us everything.” Jesus said to her, “I am he, the one speaking with you.” At that moment his disciples returned, and were amazed that he was talking with a woman, but still no one said, “What are you looking for?” or “Why are you talking with her?” The woman left her water jar and went into the town and said to the people, “Come see a man who told me everything I have done. Could he possibly be the Christ?” They went out of the town and came to him. Meanwhile, the disciples urged him, “Rabbi, eat.” But he said to them, “I have food to eat of which you do not know.” So the disciples said to one another, “Could someone have brought him something to eat?” Jesus said to them, “My food is to do the will of the one who sent me and to finish his work. Do you not say, ‘In four months the harvest will be here’? I tell you, look up and see the fields ripe for the harvest. The reaper is already receiving payment and gathering crops for eternal life, so that the sower and reaper can rejoice together. For here the saying is verified that ‘One sows and another reaps.’ I sent you to reap what you have not worked for; others have done the work, and you are sharing the fruits of their work.” Many of the Samaritans of that town began to believe in him because of the word of the woman who testified, “He told me everything I have done.” When the Samaritans came to him, they invited him to stay with them; and he stayed there two days. Many more began to believe in him because of his word, and they said to the woman, “We no longer believe because of your word; for we have heard for ourselves, and we know that this is truly the savior of the world.”


Reflection - This is a woman with a checkered personal history, which is no doubt why she is coming to the well at noon, to avoid the other women in the town who came at the usual times of dawn and dusk. But the woman’s personal history is an icon of the history of her people.  She is a woman of Samaria, after all.  The Samaritans were mixed descendants of the poor people of Northern Israel (left behind by the Assyrians in 722BC) and five foreign nations brought in by their conquerors, with whom the Israelites intermarried and also worshipped their gods! The woman’s experience mirrors that of her people.  The people of northern Israel, her ancestors, left their husband-God all the way back in 1 Kings 12 (see also Hosea 1-3, all oracles directed to Northern Israel!).  Now the Lord, the Bridegroom of Israel has returned to woo the people of Samaria (and all the nations), as he said he would long ago.


Adults - Reflect on your faith journey and how it has, or hasn’t been influenced by family and circumstances. Thank God that He has led you to Himself!
Teens - What does the phrase “Body of Christ” mean to you?
Kids - What are some ways Jesus gathers all people to Himself, both in Scripture and now?


LIVING THE WORD OF GOD THIS WEEK!  - Mother Teresa of Calcutta, with wisdom typical of saints, explained why we should give ourselves to God: “Why should we give ourselves completely to God? Because God has given Himself to us. If God who owes us nothing is ready to give us nothing less than Himself, can we respond with only a small part of ourselves? Giving ourselves totally to God is a way of receiving God. I am for God and God is for me. I live for God and renounce myself, in this way I allow God to live for me. To possess God we must allow Him to possess our souls. (Blessed Teresa di Calcutta).  — Mgr Luciano Alimandi, Ave Maria, Agenzia Fides 27/2/2008

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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.  >> Readings 

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.”
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Catechism of the Catholic Church #2725

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​The Rosary Foundation

http://www.erosary.com

The Rosary Foundation - Pray the Rosary for World Peace

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Welcome to eRosary, the official homepage of The Rosary Foundation. We are a non-profit organization dedicated to promoting rosary prayer and the benefits gained by ...
The Rosary Foundation is a charitable organization that is dedicated to promoting the benefits gained through recitation of the rosary. Its mission is to enlighten the world about the special graces available to all those who pray the rosary.

The Rosary Foundation organizes and manages several Rosary Awareness campaigns in an effort to promote the use of the rosary. Its members promote the rosary through search engine marketing and online media advertising; they promote prayer offline via word-of-mouth; they also promote prayer for several nonprofit charity organizations.

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.

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.

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.”

​

(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."

​

 

O Jesus, through the Immaculate Heart of Mary, I offer You my prayers, works, joys and sufferings of this day for all the intentions of Your Sacred Heart, in union with the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass throughout the world, in reparation for my sins, for the intentions of all my relatives and friends, and in particular for the intentions of the Holy Father. Amen.


 
“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 - March 8th, 2020


The First Reading - Genesis 12:1-4a
The LORD said to Abram: “Go forth from the land of your kinsfolk and from your father’s house to a land that I will show you. “I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you; I will make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you and curse those who curse you. All the communities of the earth shall find blessing in you.” Abram went as the LORD directed him.
Reflection
In this way Abram is called to begin a journey of faith, which lead him from Chaldea (modern Iraq) to the Canaan (modern Israel). Journeying by faith will become a motif throughout salvation history. Generations later, Abram’s descendants the Israelites will journey by faith into the wilderness in the hopes of arriving at the same Promised Land to which Abram himself journeyed, in an event we call the Exodus. Generations later still, the people of Judah will be forced to journey to Babylon, where they will struggle to keep faith for seventy years, before being allowed to journey back to that same Promised Land. As Lent is still young, we continue to hear God’s call on our own lives to begin a spiritual journey with him over these forty days, to a destination we don’t know, but God will show us.
Adults - Do you feel like you are fully entering into Lent? What can help you truly make this a time of transformation?
Teens -What can most help you build your relationship with the Lord this Lent?
Kids - How are you working to grow closer to Jesus this Lent?

Responsorial- Psalm 33: 4-5, 18-19, 20, 22
R. Lord, let your mercy be on us, as we place our trust in you.
Upright is the word of the LORD,
and all his works are trustworthy.
He loves justice and right;
of the kindness of the LORD the earth is full.
R. Lord, let your mercy be on us, as we place our trust in you.
See, the eyes of the LORD are upon those who fear him,
upon those who hope for his kindness,
To deliver them from death
and preserve them in spite of famine.
R. Lord, let your mercy be on us, as we place our trust in you.
Our soul waits for the LORD,
who is our help and our shield.
May your kindness, O LORD, be upon us
who have put our hope in you.
R. Lord, let your mercy be on us, as we place our trust in you.
Reflection
These verses are meant to encourage us on our journey of faith, both the journey that is Lent, and the larger faith journey of our lives: “Lord, let your mercy be upon us, as we place our trust in you.” As you might guess, the Hebrew word translated as “mercy” here (from Ps 33:22) is actually hesed, one of the most common and theologically rich terms in the Psalter. Hesed, often translated “mercy” or “steadfast love,” actually has a more technical meaning: covenant fidelity, the kind of unwavering love and faithfulness that covenant partners were to show toward one another. So in this Psalm, we call on God to continue his covenant faithfulness to us, since, through Jesus the Son of Abraham (Matt 1:1), we are heirs of the covenantal promises given to Abraham so long ago. Our focus on the mercy and love of God continues.
What does the phrase “the fidelity of God” mean to you?

The Second Reading- 2 Timothy 1:8b-10
Beloved: Bear your share of hardship for the gospel with the strength that comes from God. He saved us and called us to a holy life, not according to our works but according to his own design and the grace bestowed on us in Christ Jesus before time began, but now made manifest through the appearance of our savior Christ Jesus, who destroyed death and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel.
Reflection - St. Paul begins this passage by calling us to “bear our share of hardship.” Lent should be a time of hardship, to a certain extent. The Church leaves each one of the faithful a great deal of discretion in terms of what mortifications to take on during Lent. It is up to each one of us to challenge ourselves. However, it should be a real challenge. Giving up a few small treats that we hardly notice is really not sufficient. We should set ourselves some goals that stretch us out of our comfort zone. We should wake up in the morning and know it’s Lent. -What can you undertake this Lent to challenge yourself a bit more?


The Holy Gospel according to Matthew 17:1-9
Jesus took Peter, James, and John his brother, and led them up a high mountain by themselves. And he was transfigured before them; his face shone like the sun and his clothes became white as light. And behold, Moses and Elijah appeared to them, conversing with him. Then Peter said to Jesus in reply, “Lord, it is good that we are here. If you wish, I will make three tents here, one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.”
While he was still speaking, behold, a bright cloud cast a shadow over them, then from the cloud came a voice that said, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased; listen to him.” When the disciples heard this, they fell prostrate and were very much afraid. But Jesus came and touched them, saying, “Rise, and do not be afraid.” And when the disciples raised their eyes, they saw no one else but Jesus alone. As they were coming down from the mountain, Jesus charged them, “Do not tell the vision to anyone until the Son of Man has been raised from the dead.”
Reflection
As the Fathers long recognized, the Transfiguration is a foretaste or glimpse of the glory of Christ in his resurrected state. The sight of his glory is given to Peter, James, and John to encourage them to persevere through the difficult times that lay in front of them before they witness Christ’s resurrection. For us now hearing this Gospel proclaimed at Mass, it is meant to encourage us to persevere not only in Lenten mortification and asceticism until we sacramentally experience Christ’s triumph at Easter, but more broadly in embracing the sufferings of the Christian life until our lowly bodies become like his glorious body (Phil 3:21).
Adults - How would you have responded if you were in the position of the Apostles, seeing Christ transfigured before you?
Teens - Look up the meaning behind the appearance of Moses and Elijah. Why were they there?
Kids - How do you think the Apostles felt in this story? Why did Jesus transfigure before them?


LIVING THE WORD OF GOD THIS WEEK! - Christ has asked us to follow him, carrying our daily cross, and the end of our journey is not Calvary but resurrection, the entrance to a life of glory with our risen Savior. The Christian who grasps his cross closely and willingly, knowing its value for his real life, will find it becomes lighter and often not a burden but a pleasure. The man who tries to shuffle off his cross, and who curses and rebels against him who sent it, will find it doubles its weight and loses all the value it was intended to have for his true welfare. Let the thought of the Transfiguration encourage each one of us today, to do the little God demands of us, so that when we pass out of this life we may be assured of seeing Christ in his glory, ready to welcome us into his everlasting, glorious kingdom.
— Excerpted from The Sunday Readings Cycle A, Fr. Kevin O' Sullivan, O.F.M.

Lenten Regulations, Ash Wednesday explanation, Today’s Readings, Pope Francis's Lenten Message and a Lenten Meditation 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




Do you want the "Best Lent Ever"? Daily quotes or videos sign up > here <

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

 
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Homily from Ash Wednesday 2007 (9 minutes): 

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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

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Do you need a spiritual game plan for Lent? Click here:
http://www.saintjamessaintjoseph.org/spiritual-game-plan
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
+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/
 
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MAKE IT THE BEST LENT EVER
 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

 
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Reading 1
Jl 2:12-18

Even now, says the LORD, return to me with your whole heart, with fasting, and weeping, and mourning; Rend your hearts, not your garments, and return to the LORD, your God.  For gracious and merciful is he, slow to anger, rich in kindness, and relenting in punishment.  Perhaps he will again relent and leave behind him a blessing, Offerings and libations for the LORD, your God.
 
Blow the trumpet in Zion! proclaim a fast, call an assembly; Gather the people, notify the congregation; Assemble the elders, gather the children and the infants at the breast; Let the bridegroom quit his room and the bride her chamber.
 
Between the porch and the altar let the priests, the ministers of the LORD, weep, And say, “Spare, O LORD, your people, and make not your heritage a reproach, with the nations ruling over them!  Why should they say among the peoples, 'Where is their God?'” Then the LORD was stirred to concern for his land and took pity on his people.
 

Responsorial Psalm
Ps 51:3-4, 5-6ab, 12-13, 14 and 17

R. (see 3a) Be merciful, O Lord, for we have sinned.
Have mercy on me, O God, in your goodness;
in the greatness of your compassion wipe out my offense.
Thoroughly wash me from my guilt
and of my sin cleanse me.
R. Be merciful, O Lord, for we have sinned.
For I acknowledge my offense,
and my sin is before me always:
“Against you only have I sinned,
and done what is evil in your sight.”
R. Be merciful, O Lord, for we have sinned.
A clean heart create for me, O God,
and a steadfast spirit renew within me.
Cast me not out from your presence,
and your Holy Spirit take not from me.
R. Be merciful, O Lord, for we have sinned.
Give me back the joy of your salvation,
and a willing spirit sustain in me.
O Lord, open my lips,
and my mouth shall proclaim your praise.
R. Be merciful, O Lord, for we have sinned. 



Reading II
2 Cor 5:20—6:2

Brothers and sisters:
We are ambassadors for Christ, as if God were appealing through us.  We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God.  For our sake he made him to be sin who did not know sin, so that we might become the righteousness of God in him.  Working together, then, we appeal to you not to receive the grace of God in vain.  For he says:  In an acceptable time I heard you, and on the day of salvation I helped you.  Behold, now is a very acceptable time; behold, now is the day of salvation.
 
Gospel
Matthew 6:1-6, 16-18

Jesus said to his disciples:
“Take care not to perform righteous deeds in order that people may see them; otherwise, you will have no recompense from your heavenly Father.
When you give alms, do not blow a trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets to win the praise of others.
Amen, I say to you, they have received their reward.
But when you give alms, do not let your left hand know what your right is doing, so that your almsgiving may be secret.
And your Father who sees in secret will repay you.
 
“When you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, who love to stand and pray in the synagogues and on street corners so that others may see them.
Amen, I say to you, they have received their reward.
But when you pray, go to your inner room, close the door, and pray to your Father in secret.
And your Father who sees in secret will repay you.
 
“When you fast, do not look gloomy like the hypocrites.
They neglect their appearance, so that they may appear to others to be fasting.
Amen, I say to you, they have received their reward.
But when you fast, anoint your head and wash your face, so that you may not appear to be fasting, except to your Father who is hidden.
And your Father who sees what is hidden will repay you.” 
 
​

Message of the Holy Father


Dear Brothers and Sisters,
Lent is a new beginning, a path leading to the certain goal of Easter, Christ's victory over death. This season urgently calls us to conversion. Christians are asked to return to God "with all their hearts" (Joel 2:12), to refuse to settle for mediocrity and to grow in friendship with the Lord. Jesus is the faithful friend who never abandons us. Even when we sin, he patiently awaits our return; by that patient expectation, he shows us his readiness to forgive (cf. Homily, 8 January 2016).
Lent is a favourable season for deepening our spiritual life through the means of sanctification offered us by the Church: fasting, prayer and almsgiving. At the basis of everything is the word of God, which during this season we are invited to hear and ponder more deeply. I would now like to consider the parable of the rich man and Lazarus (cf. Lk 16:19-31). Let us find inspiration in this meaningful story, for it provides a key to understanding what we need to do in order to attain true happiness and eternal life. It exhorts us to sincere conversion.
1. The other person is a gift
The parable begins by presenting its two main characters. The poor man is described in greater detail: he is wretched and lacks the strength even to stand. Lying before the door of the rich man, he fed on the crumbs falling from his table. His body is full of sores and dogs come to lick his wounds (cf. vv. 20-21). The picture is one of great misery; it portrays a man disgraced and pitiful.
The scene is even more dramatic if we consider that the poor man is called Lazarus: a name full of promise, which literally means God helps. This character is not anonymous. His features are clearly delineated and he appears as an individual with his own story. While practically invisible to the rich man, we see and know him as someone familiar. He becomes a face, and as such, a gift, a priceless treasure, a human being whom God loves and cares for, despite his concrete condition as an outcast (cf. Homily, 8 January 2016).


Lazarus teaches us that other persons are a gift. A right relationship with people consists in gratefully recognizing their value. Even the poor person at the door of the rich is not a nuisance, but a summons to conversion and to change. The parable first invites us to open the doors of our heart to others because each person is a gift, whether it be our neighbour or an anonymous pauper. Lent is a favourable season for opening the doors to all those in need and recognizing in them the face of Christ. Each of us meets people like this every day. Each life that we encounter is a gift deserving acceptance, respect and love. The word of God helps us to open our eyes to welcome and love life, especially when it is weak and vulnerable. But in order to do this, we have to take seriously what the Gospel tells us about the rich man.
2. Sin blinds us
The parable is unsparing in its description of the contradictions associated with the rich man (cf. v. 19). Unlike poor Lazarus, he does not have a name; he is simply called "a rich man". His opulence was seen in his extravagant and expensive robes. Purple cloth was even more precious than silver and gold, and was thus reserved to divinities (cf. Jer 10:9) and kings (cf. Jg 8:26), while fine linen gave one an almost sacred character. The man was clearly ostentatious about his wealth, and in the habit of displaying it daily: "He feasted sumptuously every day" (v. 19). In him we can catch a dramatic glimpse of the corruption of sin, which progresses in three successive stages: love of money, vanity and pride (cf. Homily, 20 September 2013).


The Apostle Paul tells us that "the love of money is the root of all evils" (1 Tim 6:10). It is the main cause of corruption and a source of envy, strife and suspicion. Money can come to dominate us, even to the point of becoming a tyrannical idol (cf. Evangelii Gaudium, 55). Instead of being an instrument at our service for doing good and showing solidarity towards others, money can chain us and the entire world to a selfish logic that leaves no room for love and hinders peace.
The parable then shows that the rich man's greed makes him vain. His personality finds expression in appearances, in showing others what he can do. But his appearance masks an interior emptiness. His life is a prisoner to outward appearances, to the most superficial and fleeting aspects of existence (cf. ibid., 62).
The lowest rung of this moral degradation is pride. The rich man dresses like a king and acts like a god, forgetting that he is merely mortal. For those corrupted by love of riches, nothing exists beyond their own ego. Those around them do not come into their line of sight. The result of attachment to money is a sort of blindness. The rich man does not see the poor man who is starving, hurting, lying at his door.
Looking at this character, we can understand why the Gospel so bluntly condemns the love of money: "No one can be the slave of two masters: he will either hate the first and love the second, or be attached to the first and despise the second. You cannot be the slave both of God and of money" (Mt 6:24).
3. The Word is a gift
The Gospel of the rich man and Lazarus helps us to make a good preparation for the approach of Easter. The liturgy of Ash Wednesday invites us to an experience quite similar to that of the rich man. When the priest imposes the ashes on our heads, he repeats the words: "Remember that you are dust, and to dust you shall return". As it turned out, the rich man and the poor man both died, and the greater part of the parable takes place in the afterlife. The two characters suddenly discover that "we brought nothing into the world, and we can take nothing out of it" (1 Tim 6:7).
We too see what happens in the afterlife. There the rich man speaks at length with Abraham, whom he calls "father" (Lk 16:24.27), as a sign that he belongs to God's people. This detail makes his life appear all the more contradictory, for until this moment there had been no mention of his relation to God. In fact, there was no place for God in his life. His only god was himself.
The rich man recognizes Lazarus only amid the torments of the afterlife. He wants the poor man to alleviate his suffering with a drop of water. What he asks of Lazarus is similar to what he could have done but never did. Abraham tells him: "During your life you had your fill of good things, just as Lazarus had his fill of bad. Now he is being comforted here while you are in agony" (v. 25). In the afterlife, a kind of fairness is restored and life's evils are balanced by good.
The parable goes on to offer a message for all Christians. The rich man asks Abraham to send Lazarus to warn his brothers, who are still alive. But Abraham answers: "They have Moses and the prophets, let them listen to them" (v. 29). Countering the rich man's objections, he adds: "If they will not listen either to Moses or to the prophets, they will not be convinced even if someone should rise from the dead" (v. 31).


The rich man's real problem thus comes to the fore. At the root of all his ills was the failure to heed God's word. As a result, he no longer loved God and grew to despise his neighbour. The word of God is alive and powerful, capable of converting hearts and leading them back to God. When we close our heart to the gift of God's word, we end up closing our heart to the gift of our brothers and sisters.


Dear friends, Lent is the favourable season for renewing our encounter with Christ, living in his word, in the sacraments and in our neighbour. The Lord, who overcame the deceptions of the Tempter during the forty days in the desert, shows us the path we must take. May the Holy Spirit lead us on a true journey of conversion, so that we can rediscover the gift of God's word, be purified of the sin that blinds us, and serve Christ present in our brothers and sisters in need. I encourage all the faithful to express this spiritual renewal also by sharing in the Lenten Campaigns promoted by many Church organizations in different parts of the world, and thus to favour the culture of encounter in our one human family. Let us pray for one another so that, by sharing in the victory of Christ, we may open our doors to the weak and poor. Then we will be able to experience and share to the full the joy of Easter.



From the Vatican, 4 October 2018
Feast of Saint Francis of Assisi
FRANCIS

Prayer for the Beginning of Lent


Grant us, Lord, to begin with holy fasting
this campaign of Christian service
that, as we fight against spiritual evils,
we may be armed with the weapons of self restraint. 
Through Christ our Lord. Amen.
 
Lenten Meditation
​On the Via Dolorosa with MaryAsh Wednesday is the first day of Lent when the Catholic Church charges us to put on the mantle of penitence for forty days and forty nights through the Passion and Death of Jesus in preparation for his glorious Resurrection. We receive ashes to remind us of the temporary vessels that we are. 

According to tradition, after Jesus died, Mary used to visit those places where her Son shed his blood (the Way of the Cross or Via Dolorosa which means road of suffering). She meditated on Christ's suffering by following in his footsteps. Later, other faithful followers of Jesus did the same. For centuries people would go in pilgrimage to visit the holy places, making all the stops or stations on the Way of the Cross. 

The Passion and Death of Jesus was the greatest expression of his love for us, since it is by his suffering and death that he saved us from the slavery of sin, and by his resurrection that he confirmed the promise of our own resurrection. 
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