I'm so glad Lent is here. I started my day with the Sacrament of Confession and Ashes at Arch Street.
One thing I'll say for the priests there, they are devoted to the Sacrament of Confession.
As they made the sign of the cross on my forehead and said "turn from sin and follow the Gospel", I thought to myself, the sad thing about this place is they never teach their flock what constitutes sin and therefore, their flock never turns from it.
Thank you Jesus for the many brave souls who corrected my errors and taught me Authentic Catholicism.
I hope your Lent is off to a prayerful start.
Here's a reflection from a talented friend of mine - followed by Readings.
"A New Heart"
"Create in me a clean heart, O God, and put a new and right spirit in me." (Psalm 51:10)
Lord, during this Lenten season, you call me to love you with ALL MY HEART. I can't do this on my own, so I come to you and ask you to create the heart YOU desire for me.
I ask you to
... heal my wounded heart
.... calm my anxious heart
.... open my selfish heart
.... comfort my broken heart
.... cleanse my sinful heart
.... direct my confused heart
.... answer my questioning heart
.... melt my unforgiving heart
.... feed my hungry heart
.... befriend my lonely heart.
I also pray that you would
... encourage my compassionate heart
.... strengthen my patient heart
.... sustain my merciful heart
.... foster my generous heart
.... inspire my creative heart
.... maintain my grateful heart
.... overflow my joyful heart.
In Ezekiel 36:26 the Lord says, "A new heart will I give you and a new spirit I will put within you.”
Dear Lord,
Thank you that you will renew my heart -- and the hearts of all those who seek you. Our hearts can become hard and impenetrable because of the events that occur in our lives. Each day please touch those dark areas of our hearts.
And Lord, when our hearts are open and full of light, sustain them. Give us the grace and desire to give that love back to YOU -- then share it with others... and ourselves. Encourage us to continually work toward following your GREAT commandments: "You shall love the Lord your God, with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind... You shall love your neighbor as yourself. " (Matthew 22:37-39)
One thing I'll say for the priests there, they are devoted to the Sacrament of Confession.
As they made the sign of the cross on my forehead and said "turn from sin and follow the Gospel", I thought to myself, the sad thing about this place is they never teach their flock what constitutes sin and therefore, their flock never turns from it.
Thank you Jesus for the many brave souls who corrected my errors and taught me Authentic Catholicism.
I hope your Lent is off to a prayerful start.
Here's a reflection from a talented friend of mine - followed by Readings.
"A New Heart"
"Create in me a clean heart, O God, and put a new and right spirit in me." (Psalm 51:10)
Lord, during this Lenten season, you call me to love you with ALL MY HEART. I can't do this on my own, so I come to you and ask you to create the heart YOU desire for me.
I ask you to
... heal my wounded heart
.... calm my anxious heart
.... open my selfish heart
.... comfort my broken heart
.... cleanse my sinful heart
.... direct my confused heart
.... answer my questioning heart
.... melt my unforgiving heart
.... feed my hungry heart
.... befriend my lonely heart.
I also pray that you would
... encourage my compassionate heart
.... strengthen my patient heart
.... sustain my merciful heart
.... foster my generous heart
.... inspire my creative heart
.... maintain my grateful heart
.... overflow my joyful heart.
In Ezekiel 36:26 the Lord says, "A new heart will I give you and a new spirit I will put within you.”
Dear Lord,
Thank you that you will renew my heart -- and the hearts of all those who seek you. Our hearts can become hard and impenetrable because of the events that occur in our lives. Each day please touch those dark areas of our hearts.
And Lord, when our hearts are open and full of light, sustain them. Give us the grace and desire to give that love back to YOU -- then share it with others... and ourselves. Encourage us to continually work toward following your GREAT commandments: "You shall love the Lord your God, with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind... You shall love your neighbor as yourself. " (Matthew 22:37-39)
Reading 1
Dt 30:15-20
Moses said to the people: "Today I have set before you
life and prosperity, death and doom. If you obey the commandments of the LORD, your God, which I enjoin on you today, loving him, and walking in his ways, and keeping his commandments, statutes and decrees, you will live and grow numerous, and the LORD, your God, will bless you in the land you are entering to occupy. If, however, you turn away your hearts and will not listen, but are led astray and adore and serve other gods, I tell you now that you will certainly perish; you will not have a long life on the land that you are crossing the Jordan to enter and occupy. I call heaven and earth today to witness against you: I have set before you life and death, the blessing and the curse. Choose life, then, that you and your descendants may live, by loving the LORD, your God, heeding his voice, and holding fast to him. For that will mean life for you, a long life for you to live on the land that the LORD swore he would give to your fathers Abraham, Isaac and Jacob."
Moses said to the people: "Today I have set before you
life and prosperity, death and doom. If you obey the commandments of the LORD, your God, which I enjoin on you today, loving him, and walking in his ways, and keeping his commandments, statutes and decrees, you will live and grow numerous, and the LORD, your God, will bless you in the land you are entering to occupy. If, however, you turn away your hearts and will not listen, but are led astray and adore and serve other gods, I tell you now that you will certainly perish; you will not have a long life on the land that you are crossing the Jordan to enter and occupy. I call heaven and earth today to witness against you: I have set before you life and death, the blessing and the curse. Choose life, then, that you and your descendants may live, by loving the LORD, your God, heeding his voice, and holding fast to him. For that will mean life for you, a long life for you to live on the land that the LORD swore he would give to your fathers Abraham, Isaac and Jacob."
Responsorial Psalm
Ps 1:1-2, 3, 4 and 6
R. (40:5a) Blessed are they who hope in the Lord.
Blessed the man who follows not the counsel of the wicked
Nor walks in the way of sinners, nor sits in the company of the insolent, But delights in the law of the LORD and meditates on his law day and night.
R. Blessed are they who hope in the Lord.
He is like a tree planted near running water, That yields its fruit in due season, and whose leaves never fade. Whatever he does, prospers.
R. Blessed are they who hope in the Lord.
Not so the wicked, not so; they are like chaff which the wind drives away. For the LORD watches over the way of the just,
but the way of the wicked vanishes.
Gospel Lk 9:22-25
Jesus said to his disciples: "The Son of Man must suffer greatly and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests, and the scribes,
and be killed and on the third day be raised." Then he said to all, "If anyone wishes to come after me, he must deny himself
and take up his cross daily and follow me. For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will save it. What profit is there for one to gain the whole world yet lose or forfeit himself?"
R. (40:5a) Blessed are they who hope in the Lord.
Blessed the man who follows not the counsel of the wicked
Nor walks in the way of sinners, nor sits in the company of the insolent, But delights in the law of the LORD and meditates on his law day and night.
R. Blessed are they who hope in the Lord.
He is like a tree planted near running water, That yields its fruit in due season, and whose leaves never fade. Whatever he does, prospers.
R. Blessed are they who hope in the Lord.
Not so the wicked, not so; they are like chaff which the wind drives away. For the LORD watches over the way of the just,
but the way of the wicked vanishes.
Gospel Lk 9:22-25
Jesus said to his disciples: "The Son of Man must suffer greatly and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests, and the scribes,
and be killed and on the third day be raised." Then he said to all, "If anyone wishes to come after me, he must deny himself
and take up his cross daily and follow me. For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will save it. What profit is there for one to gain the whole world yet lose or forfeit himself?"
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