Daily Lenten Thoughts March 23rd

Daily Lenten Thoughts March 23rd

SPY WEDNESDAY!

Linked with Judas’ imminent betrayal of Jesus and the “watchers” in the crowd who looked for an opportunity to bring Jesus down.  It’s a day to reflect a bit on gossip and spitefulness.  Having reflected on them, perhaps, a day to set them aside.

There’s an old rhyme I picked up somewhere along the way.  Maybe it has a place in our Lenten Journey and it’s today’s thought …

“There’s so much bad in the best of us

and so much good in the worst of us;

it ill becomes any of us

to talk about the rest of us …..”

___________________________

Here’s a link to an older post and a reflection around letters exchanged between Judas and Jesus …..

Daily Lenten Thought March 22nd

Daily Lenten Thought March 22nd

It’s so hard to take in all the heartbreak that’s around us these days. Over the weekend, many people lost their lives in accidents here in Ireland and our thoughts and prayers are with the many more, trying to make sense of what has happened. Our prayers too, are with those who have died, that they may enter Eternity and find lasting rest there.

Today we hear of more terrorist attacks in Brussels. It is so wrong and very frightening to know that there are people out there, people who were once little children – innocent babies, and are now so full of hatred that they can destroy the lives of people without giving it a second thought.

Religion is often blamed for this but it seems to me that no religion could justify the carnage that is being inflicted on our world just now. I wonder too, how “religious” are those who fill the minds of other with thoughts of hatred and show them how to carry out these atrocities.

The words of Jesus to the women of Jerusalem are surely relevant, “weep not for me but for yourselves and for your children” (Luke 23:28)  The world is surely weeping now. We need a Veronica and a Simon, to remind us that a helping hand is of more lasting value than a violent heart.

Coulter’s song about his home town of Derry comes to mind “We can only pray, for a bright brand new day for the town [THE WORLD] we all love so well.”

 

Daily Lenten Thought March 21st

Daily Lenten Thought March 21st

Sometimes at Morning Mass I use a few lines of a prayer. I remember it from somewhere, maybe, I think, an old Redemptorist Parish Mission Prayer Book.

Like a lot of the bits I like and recall, I don’t think I’ve remembered it word perfect. That said, maybe I’ve enough of it to use.

It is set at the beginning of the day and entrusts the day ahead to the Lord’s care and guiding hand.

The lines I like come close to, if not at, the end.  They go something like this:

And when night comes, may I look back on this day,

with no bitterness or regret in my heart

because of anything I’ve said or done,

left unsaid or failed to do ….. 

Alas, I’ve had days that have ended with regret, whatever about bitterness but with the God of Mercy, and the passing of night, there’s a new day ahead.

For all of us …..

PS … Yes, it’s the Redemptorist Morning Prayer (just Googled)

God of my life, I welcome this new day. it is your gift to me, a new creation, a promise of resurrection. I thank you for the grace of being alive this morning. I thank you for the sleep that has refreshed me. I thank you for this chance to make a new beginning. This day Lord is full of promise and opportunity; let me waste none of it. This day is full of mystery and the unknown; help me to face it without fear or anxiety. This day is blessed with beauty and adventure: make me fully alive to it all. During this day keep me thoughtful, prayerful and kind. May I be courteous and helpful to others, and not turned in on myself. Keep me from any word that would hurt, or belittle, or destroy; and may the thoughts of my mind be pleasing in your sight. When night comes again, may I look back on this day with no grievance or bitterness in my heart; and may nobody be unhappy because of anything I have done or anything I have failed to do. Lord, bless this day for me and for everyone. Make it a day in which we grow to have the mind of Christ, your Son. Lord Jesus Christ, friend and brother, may we know you more clearly, love you more dearly, and follow you more nearly, day by day. Amen.

(Source: Come, Lord Jesus: Redemptorist Mission and Novena Book)

Daily Lenten Thoughts March 20th

Daily Lenten Thoughts March 20th

 

“This will be your busy week”!

I’d say there aren’t many priests in the country who haven’t heard or will hear that comment made many times.  I have one priest friend who has a set response at this stage, he just says “Well sure when it’s over, I can slacken off til Christmas”:)

Is it a busy week?  In ways, I suppose it is but it’s a week that is more or less mapped out for us.  The scene is well set in today’s “Long Gospel” and the story is told a-new once again so that it becomes part of our fabric in the coming days.

Chrism Mass on Holy Thursday, Mass of The Lord’s Supper on Thursday evening, Celebration of the Lord’s Passion on Good Friday (possibly Stations of the Cross somewhere along the way that evening), Confessions and, of course, the Easter Vigil. It’s all there for us, scripted and laid out but we have to try to make our own of it.

Someone shared a video clip with me a little while ago.  Two young brothers at Mass on Palm Sunday, totally bored by the long Gospel, they start to mess.  Their mother chastises them but the response in better behaviour is short-lived.  One challenges the other to shout out loud when the crowd is to say “Crucify him”.  He bets his brother one dollar that he won’t.

There’s a change …. sure have a look yourself and you’ll see what I mean.

Whether it’s a busy week or not, is pretty much up to us.  For it to be a meaningful week, we need to make it personal. That personal moment may well come at a moment we least expect and it will make all the other moments make sense ….

Daily Lenten Thought March 19th

Daily Lenten Thought March 19th

I typed about three lines last night at a minute or so to midnight just to fulfil my Lenten Promise!!  Met my brother earlier and he told me he enjoyed it very much.  Easier to read, he reckoned, than some of the others!!  I was under-whelmed:)

Another friend Vibered to say “just one more week” and I’m not sure was that encouragement for me or gratitude for her …..

She’s right though.  We’re into Holy Week now.  Just one more week to:

  • say a prayer,
  • renew a commitment
  • right a wrong
  • make a difference
  • deepen the faith
  • approach confessions
  • be the best version of ourselves …

Then again, a lot can be done in a week.

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